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□    Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I     I    Covers  damaged/ 


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Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurAe  et/ou  pellicula 


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Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


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Relii  avec  d'autres  documents 


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along  interior  margin/ 

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I     I   Coloured  pages/ 


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I      I    Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I — I    Only  edition  available/ 


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ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
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Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  de  reduction  indiquA  ci-dessous. 


10X 

14X 

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26X 

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D.B.Wtldon  Library 
Univiraity  of  WMtam  Ontario 

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possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
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(r*»«m|rtfeira  filMt  ftfi  Nrpfodutf  tf«m*m 
iintrosit*  de: 

D.B.Wnldon  Library 
Univcrsi  ty  of  Wsttsrn  Ontario 

Les  images  suivantes  ont  €t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
de  la  nettet^  de  I'exemplaire  film*,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
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or  illustrated  impression. 


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dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmte  en  commengant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  y  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaftra  sur  la 
derniire  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — ►  signtfie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
film6s  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diff6rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichA,  il  est  film*  A  partir 
de  I'angle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
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illustrent  la  m6thode. 


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1 


\  i 


JEREMIAH,  PRIEST  AND  PROPHET 


,  &" 


THE  COMPLETE  IVCRKS 

OF 
REV,  F.  B.  MEYER,  B.A, 


For  complete  descriptive  list 
of  (Mr,  iMej^er's  writings,  see 
the  concluding  pages  of  this  vol- 
ume, v^ll  of  the  books  there 
named  will  he  sent,  post  free^  on 
receipt  of  price. 


% 


-._.i — 


JEREMIAH 


PRIEST  AND  PROPHET 


BY 


F.  B.  MEYER,  B.  A. 

AUTHOR  OF  "ELIJAH,  AND  THE  SECRET  OP  HIS  POWER,"  '' MOSES,  THB 


»   it. 


SERVANT  OP  OOD,"  *' TRIED  BY  FIRE,"   *'THB  SHEPHERD  PSALM,"  ETC. 


4k 


FLEMING  H.  REVEL'.  COMPANY 
New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

FkiSiktrt  ^EvtmgtUeal  LiitnUmnt 


Copyright,  1894,  by 
Fleming  H.  Revell  Compa:,*v. 


y 


129347 


PREFACE. 


I 


1 EREMIAH  has  always  a  fascination  to  Christian  hearts, 
I  because  of  the  close  similarity  that  exists  between  his 
life  and  that  of  Jesus  Christ.  Each  of  them  was  "  a  man 
of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief  " ;  each  came  to  hii 
own,  and  his  own  received  him  not ;  each  passed  through 
hours  of  rejection,  desolation,  and  forsakenness.  And  in 
Jeremiah  we  may  see,  beaten  out  into  detail,  experiences 
which,  in  our  Lord,  are  but  lightly  touched  on  by  the  evan- 
gelists. 

It  is  by  no  means  an  easy  task  to  discern  the  true  order  of 
Jeremiah's  prophecies.  The  clew  to  their  present  arrange- 
ment seems  lost.  Probably  the  chapters  are  grouped  more 
according  to  subject  than  to  chronology,  those  touching 
on  the  same  topic  being  grouped  together.  In  this  book  I 
have  endeavored,  as  far  as  possible,  to  follow  the  chrono- 
logical sequence. 

If  I  had  been  writing  a  history  of  the  last  days  of  the 
monarchy  of  Judah,  these  pages  would  have  been  much 
extended ;  but  I  have  refrained  from  this,  wishing  only  tc 
tell  so  much  of  the  general  story  as  was  needful  to  eluci- 
date the  part  Jeremiah  was  called  to  play. 

It  will  more  than  serve  my  purpose  if  I  shall  be  able  to 
make  the  personality  of  this  great  man  more  familiar  to  the 
general  Christian  public.  For  some  reason  there  is  a  great 
amount  of  ignorance  of  the  life  and  times  of  Jeremiah, 
which  contrasts  remarkably  with  the  veneration  with  which 
the  Jews  have  always  regarded  him.     But  amid  the  names 


PREF.iCB 


that  shine  as  stars  in  the  hemisphere  of  Old  Testament 
Scripture,  there  is  not  one  more  brilliant  than  his. 

There  is  an  especial  message  in  the  ministry  of  Jeremiah 
for  those  who  are  compelled  to  stand  alone,  who  fall  into 
the  ground  to  die,  who  fill  up  what  is  behind  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  Christ,  and  through  death  arise  to  bear  fruit  in  the 
great  world  of  men,  which  they  passionately  love. 

F.  B.  Meyer. 


itament 


eremiah 
all  into 
;  suffer- 

it  in  the 

£YER. 


\ 


V 


I. 

vll. 
III. 


\ 


IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

"«  XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 


CONTENTS. 

"  Thb  Word  of  the  Lord  Cami  unto  Mb  "  . . .      9 
"  I  Formed  Thee  " 17 

CiSTERN-MAKINO 2$ 

The  Second  Discourse 34 

At  the  Temple  Gates 43 

The  Soul's  •'  Amen  " 5* 

The  Swelling  of  Jordan 6a 

The  Drought 71 

"  On  the  Potter's  Wheel" 80 

The  Fire  of  Holy  Impulse 89 

Afflictions,  Distresses,  Tumults 99 

The  Indestructible  Word 108 

The  Rbchabites 117 

Hidden,  but  Radiant ia6 

The  Ministry  of  Destruction 13$ 

Jeremiah's  Grandest  Ode 146 

How  A  Reed  Stood  as  a  Pillar 157 

Into  the  Ground,  to  Die 168 

The  Fall  of  Jerusalem 177 

A  Clouded  Sunset 189 


y 


JEREMIAH,  PRIEST  AND  PROPHET 


1. 
**  tftt  toovlf  of  tl)e  £or^  €avu  mto  MBU'' 

(Jeremiah  1.  4,  11, 13.) 

**  We  know — things  that  we  cannot  say ; 
We  soar — where  we  could  never  map  oar  flight ; 
We  see — flashes  and  colorings  too  quick  and  bright 

For  any  hand  to  paint.    We  hear — 
Strange,  far-off  mental  music,  all  too  sweet, 
Too  great  for  any  earthly  instrument ; 
Gone,  if  we  strive  to  bring  it  near." 

F.  R.  Haveroal. 

IF  th€$  days  of  David  and  Solomon  may  be  compared  to 
spring  and  summer  in  the  history  of  the  kingdom  of 
Israel,  it  was  late  autumn  when  our  story  opens.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  spiritual  revival  under  Hezekiah  and  Isaiah, 
which  had  for  a  brief  interval  arrested  the  process  of  de- 
cline, had  spent  itself ;  and  not  even  the  reforms  of  the 
good  King  Josiah,  which  affected  rather  the  surface  than 
the  heart  of  the  people,  could  avail  to  avert  inevitable 
judgment. 
The  northern  tribes  were  captive  on  the  plains  of  Meso- 

9 


^ 


lO 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


potamia,  whence,  in  the  dawn  of  history,  their  race  had 
sprung.  And  Judah,  unwarned  by  the  fate  of  her  sister 
Israel,  was  rapidly  pursuing  the  same  path,  to  be  presently 
involved  in  a  similar  catastrophe.  King  and  court,  princes 
and  people,  prophets  and  priests,  were  infected  with  the 
abominable  vices  for  committing  which  the  Canaanites  had 
been  expelled  from  the  Promised  Land  centuries  before. 

Every  high  hill  had  its  thick  grove  of  green  trees,  within 
whose  shadow  the  idolatrous  rites  and  abominable  license 
of  nature-worship  were  freely  practiced.  The  face  of  the 
country  was  thickly  covered  with  temples  erected  for  the 
worship  of  Baal  and  Astarte,  and  all  the  host  of  heaven, 
and  with  lewd  idols.  In  the  cities,  the  black-robed  chema- 
rim,  the  priests  of  these  unhallowed  practices,  flitted  to 
and  fro  in  strange  contrast  to  the  white-stoled  priests  of 
Jehovah.  The  people  were  taught  to  consider  vice  as  part 
of  their  religion,  and  to  frequent  houses  dedicated  to  im- 
purity. All  kinds  of  evil  throve  unchecked.  The  poor 
were  plundered,  the  innocent  falsely  accused ;  wicked  men 
lay  in  wait  to  catch  men ;  theft  and  murder,  adultery  and 
idolatry,  like  spores  of  corruption,  filled  the  fetid  air  and 
flourished  on  the  tainted  soil  (ii.  20,  27,  34;  v.  7,  8,  26; 
ix.  2). 

But  it  was  in  Jerusalem  that  these  evils  came  to  a  head. 
In  the  streets  of  the  Holy  City  the  children  were  taught  to 
gather  wood,  while  the  fathers  kindled  the  fire,  and  the 
women  kneaded  dough  to  make  cakes  for  Astarte,  "the 
queen  of  heaven,"  and  to  pour  out  drink-offerings  unto 
other  gods.  The  Temple,  with  so  many  sacred  associa- 
tions, was  the  headquarters  of  Baal- worship ;  its  courts 
were  desecrated  by  monstrous  images  and  sjrmbols,  and 
its  precincts  were  the  abode  of  infamous  men  and  women. 
It  seemed  as  though  the  king  of  Sodom  had  dispossessed 
Melchizedek  in  his  ancient  home.    Below  the  Temple  bat- 


3 


I 


"THE  IVORD  OF  THE  LORD  CAME  UNTO  ME"    " 


i 


dements,  deep  down  in  the  Valley  of  Hinnom,  scenes  were 
constantly  witnessed  that  recalled  the  darkest  cruelties  of 
heathendom.  There  was  the  high  place  of  Tophet,  which 
derived  its  name  from  the  clamor  of  the  drmns  that  drowned 
the  cries  of  the  babes  flung  into  the  fires.  It  was  an  awful 
combination.  "  The  Temple  of  the  Lord,  The  Temple  of 
the  Lord ! "  was  the  cry  of  the  heartless  formalist,  while 
below  the  sacred  shrine  such  scenes  of  devilry  were  rife. 
Ah  me!  would  that  it  had  been  the  last  time  in  the  world's 
history  when  the  profession  of  true  religion  had  been  ac- 
companied by  the  license  of  vice  and  the  service  of  the 
devil! 

In  such  a  Sodom  God's  voice  must  be  heard.  The 
Judge  of  all  the  earth  must  warn  the  ungodly  of  a  certain 
retribution,  only  to  be  averted  by  swift  repentance.  The 
Good  Shepherd  must  seek  his  wayward  sheep.  Better  be- 
lieve that  there  is  no  God  than  think  that  he  could  be  speech- 
less in  the  presence  of  sins  that  frustrated  his  election  and 
long  education  of  Israel  and  threatened  to  terminate  its 
very  existence  as  a  people. 

Yet  if  God  speak,  it  must  be  through  the  yielded  lips  of 
man.  For  if  his  voice  struck  the  ear  of  sinful  man  directly, 
it  would  either  paralyze  him  with  dread,  or  seem  indistinct, 
like  the  mutterings  '^f  thunder.  Therefore  in  every  age  the 
Divine  Spirit  has  gone  through  the  world  seeking  for  the 
prepared  lip  of  elect  souls  through  which  to  utter  himself. 
He  seeks  such  tc-day.  Men  are  still  the  vehicles  of  his 
communications  to  men.  To  us,  as  to  Ezekiel,  the  Divine 
Spirit  says,  "  Son  of  man,  thou  shalt  hear  the  word  at  my 
mouth,  and  give  them  warning  from  me." 

In  the  call  of  Jeremiah  we  may  discover  the  sort  of  man 
whom  God  chooses  as  the  medium  for  his  speech.  And 
our  discovery  will  greatly  startle  us.  We  shall  find  the 
heavenly  treasure  in  a  simple  earthen  vessel ;  not  in  the 


-•> 


I  a  JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TR^QPHET 

^  metropolis,  but  In  the  poor  village  o*  Anathoth,  three  miles 
to  the  north ;  not  in  an  elder,  but  in  a  youth ;  not  among 
the  high  and  noble,  but  in  the  family  of  an  imdistinguished 
priest ;  not  in  a  man  mighty  as  Elijah,  eloquent  as  Isaiah,  or 
seraphic  as  Ezekiel ;  but  in  one  who  was  timid  and  shrink- 
ing, conscious  of  his  helplessness,  yearning  for  a  sympathy 
and  love  he  was  never  to  know.  Such  was  the  chosen  organ 
through  which  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  that  corrupt 
and  degenerate  a^e.  ^    ^ 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  a  superficial  gaze  will  dis- 
cern the  special  qualifications  that  attracted  the  divine 
choice  to  Jeremiah.  But  that  is  no  wonder.  The  instni- 
ments  of  the  divine  purpose  in  all  ages  have  not  been  such 
as  man  would  have  selected.  God  has  always  chosen  "  the 
foolish  things  of  the  world,  that  he  might  put  to  shame 
them  that  are  wise ;  and  the  weak  things  of  the  world,  that 
he  might  put  to  shame  the  things  that  are  strong ;  and  the 
base  things  of  the  world,  and  the  things  that  are  despised, 
yea,  and  the  things  that  are  not,  that  he  might  bring  to 
naught  the  things  that  are :  that  no  flesh  should  glory  be- 
fore God."  Your  family  may  be  poor  in  Manasseh,  and 
yourself  the  least  in  your  father's  house — nothing  more 
than  a  cake  of  barley-bread ;  yet  if  God  lay  hold  of  you 
he  will  work  a  wonderful  deliverance.  But  there  were 
several  reasons  why  Jeremiah  might  have  been  passed  over : 
t  Jfe  was  young.  How  young  we  do  opt  biQj^ ;  but  young 
enough  for  him  to  start  back  at  iS&mmmmit  proposal,  with 

%  ,-^  the  cry,  "Ah,  Lord  God  1  behold,  I  cannot  speak:  for  I 
am  a  child."  Without  doubt,  as  a  boy  he  had  enjoyed 
peculiar  advantages.  He  came  of  a  priestly  family ;  his 
father,  Hilkiah,  may  have  been  the  high  priest  who,  in  the 
discharge  of  his  sacred  office  in  the  Temple,  discovered  the 
manuscript  roll  which  proved  to  be  a  copy  of  the  Book 
of  the  Law  and  led  to  the  reformation  under  Josiah.  \His 


:i 


|v 


t( 


THE  lyORD  OF  THE  LORD  C/iUE  UNTO  ME  "     13 


»3' 


ft 


t,i 


f^ 


ji, 


uncle,  Shallum,  was  the  husband  of  Huldah,  the  prophet- 
ess, in  whom  the  fire  of  the  old  Hebrew  faith  was  juming 
brightly,  even  in  those  days  of  almost  universal  degeneracy. 
Shaphan,  Baruch,  and  Hanameel  were  probably  the  com- 
panions of  his  youth,  and  afterward  formed  a  little  band 
who  nourished  the  noblest  traditions  of  the  national  life. 
Still,  Jeremiah  was  but  as  a  child. 

God  has  often  selected  the  young  for  posts  of  eminent 
service :  Samuel  and  Timothy,  Joseph  and  David,  Daniel 
and  Jeremiah ;  Calvin,  who  wrote  his  "  Institutes"  before  he^ 
was  twenty-four;  and  Wesley,  who  was  only  twenty-five 
when  he  inaugurated  the  great  system  of  Methodism.  In 
every  age  of  the  Church  young  eyes  have  eagerly  scanned 
this  paragraph,  and  have  dared  to  cherish  the  hope  that 
since  youth  did  not  disqualify  Jeremiah,  so  it  would  not 
render  them  unfit  for  the  special  service  of  God.  The 
only  thing  to  be  sure  of  is  that  God  has  really  called  you ; 
and  this  can  only  be  ascertained  after  very  careful  con- 
sideration. There  is,  first,  the  consciousness  of  a  strong  in- 
ward impulse,  which  is  most  present  in  the  holiest  hours, 
but  which  is  never  far  away,  and  often  surges  up  pure  and 
strong  in  the  soul.  There  is,  next,  a  certain  concurrence 
of  Providence,  by  which  other  doors  seem  closed,  and  that 
opened  which  conducts  to  the  desired  goal.  Besides  these 
there  is  a  natural  adaptation,  a  consensus  of  opinion  among 
friends  and  advisers,  and  the  constant  voice  of  the  Spirit 
through  the-Word. 

fife  was  naturally  timid  and  sensitive.  By  nature  he 
seemed  cast  in  too  delicate  a  mold  to  be  able  to  combat 
the  dangers  and  difficulties  of  his  time.  ]  He  reminds  us  of 
a  denizen  of  the  sea,  accustomed  to  live  within  its  shell, 
but  suddenly  deprived  of  its  strong  incasement,  and  thrown 
without  covering  on  the  sharp  edges  of  the  rocks.  [TRe 
bitter  complaint  of  his  after-life  was  that  his  mother  had 


.'■w«»>'.*:«flT'7'''f>Ti«i?'"Ki»-7ri'" 


H 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


brought  him  into  a  world  of  strife  and  contention.  And 
it  was  in  allusion  to  the  natural  shrinking  of  his  disposition 
f\  that  Jehovah  promised  to  make  him  a  "  defenced  city,  and 
J-^axi  iron  pillar,  and  brazen  walls  against  the  whole  land."  t 
Many  are  molded  upon  this  type.  They  have  the  sensi- 
tiveness of  a  girl,  and  the  nervous  organism  of  a  gazelle. 
They  love  the  shallows,  with  their  carpet  of  silver  sand, 
rather  than  the  strong  billows  that  test  a  man's  endurance. 
For  them  it  is  enough  to  run  with  footmen ;  they  have  no 
desire  to  contend  with  horses.  They  love  the  land  of  peace 
in  which  they  are  secure,  and  have  no  heart  for  the  swell- 
ing of  Jordan.  Yet  such,  like  Jeremiah,  may  play  an  heroic 
part  on  the  world's  stage,  if  only  they  will  let  God  lay 
down  the  iron  of  his  might  along  the  lines  of  their  natural 
weakness.  His  strength  is  only  made  perfect  in  weakness. 
It  is  to  those  who  have  no  might  that  he  increaseth  strength. 
Happy  is  the  soul  that  can  look  up  from  its  utter  helpless- 
ness and  say  with  Jeremiah,  "  O  Lord,  my  strength  in  the 
day  of  affliction ;  "  or  with  Micah,  in  yet  earlier  times, 
"  Truly  I  am  full  of  power  by  the  Spirit  oi  the  Lord,  and 
of  judgment,  and  of  might,  to  declaiv.  unto  Jacob  his  trans- 
gression,  and  to  Israel  his  sin." 

fife  specially  shrank  from  the  burden  he  was  summoned  to 
deaf\J  His  chosen  theme  would  have  been  God's  mercy — 
the  boundlessness  of  his  compassion,  the  tenderness  of  his 
pity.  I  In  the  earlier  chapters,  when  pleading  with  the  peo- 
ple to  return  to  God,  there  is  a  tenderness  in  his  voice  and  a 
pathos  in  his  speech,  which  prove  how  thoroughly  his  heart 
was  in  this  part  of  his  work.  Some  of  his  choicest  allu- 
sions  to  natural  scenes  sSt  mtended  to  set  forth  the  love 
of  God  to  backsliding  and  penitent  soulsj  God's  mercy 
is  like  "  a  fountain  of  living  waters,"  as  contrasted  to  the 
brackish  contents  of  the  rock-hewn  cisterns;  or  like  the 
ocean  waves  lapping  on  the  bank  of  soft  sand  they  may 


^ 


5^ 


"-'  ■T~rT~"girTiin 


"THE  WORD  OF  THE  LORD  CAME  UNTO  ME**    15 


not  pass ;  or  like  a  husband's  great  love,  which  cannot  for- 
get  the  day  of  espousal  amid  the  unfaithfulness  which  has 
ruined  the  peace  of  his  home. 

^But  to  be  charged  with  a  message  of  judgment ;  to  an- 
nounce, the  woful  day;  to  oppose  every  suggestion  of 
heroic  resistance;  to  charge  home  on  the  prophetic  and 
the  priestly  orders,  to  each  of  which  he  belonged,  and  the 
anger  of  each  of  which  he  incurred,  the  crimes  by  which 
they  were  disgraced — this  was  the  commission  that  was 
furthest  from  his  choice.     "  As  for  me,"  he  cried,  "  I  have 

^Z/'^oX.  hastenedkfrom  b^ng  a 

^-^     have  I^^iSffl&tliVpyolbf^y'ftMt^  (xvii. 

He  was  conscious  of  his  deficiency  in  speech.  Like  Moses 
he  could  say,  "O  my  Lord,  I  am  not  eloquent,  neither 
heretofore,  nor  since  thou  hast  spoken  unto  thy  servant ; 
but  I  am  slow  of  speech,  and  of  a  slow  tongue."  Like 
Isaiah  he  might  cry,  "  Woe  is  me  !  for  I  am  undone ;  be- 
cause I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  in  the  midst 
of  a  people  of  imclean  lips :  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the 
ELing,  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Like  the  Apostle  Paul  he  could 
affirm,  "  My  speech  and  my  preaching  were  not  in  persua- 
sive words  of  wisdom."  "Then  said  I,  Ah,  Lord  God! 
behold,  I  cannot  speak :  for  I  am  a  child." 

The  best  speakers  for  God  are  frequently  they  who  are 
least  gifted  with  human  eloquence;  for  if  that  be  richly 
present — ^the  mighty  power  of  moving  men — there  is  an 
imminent  peril  of  relying  on  it  and  attributing  the  results  to 
its  magnetic  spell.  God  cannot  give  his  glory  to  another. 
He  may  not  share  his  praise  with  man.  He  dare  not  ex- 
pose his  servants  to  the  temptation  of  sacrificing  to  their 
own  net  or  trusting  their  own  ability.  And  so  he  often 
chooses  uneloquent  lips,  and  touches  them  with  his  finger, 
and  leaves  his  words  trembling  there,  the  meet  vehicles  of 
his  thoughts  that  bum  on  the  altar  of  the  soul.    Of  him, 


•^•<«'wm*i.. 


i6 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


and  through  him>  and  to  him  must  l)e  all  things,  that  the 
glory  may  be  his  forever. 

Do  not  then  despair  because  of  these  apparent  disqualifi- 
cations. None  of  them  will  shut  out  from  thee  the  accents 
of  the  voice  of  God.  Notwithstanding  all,  the  word  of 
the  Lord  shall  come  to  thee ;  not  for  thy  sake  alone,  but 
for  those  to  whom  thou  shalt  be  sent.  The  one  thing  that 
God  demands  of  thee  is  absolute  consecration  to  his  pur- 
pose, and  willingness  to  go  on  any  errand  on  which  he 
may  send  thee.  If  these  are  thine  all  else  will  be  given 
thee.  He  will  hush  thine  alarm — "  Be  not  afraid  1 "  He 
will  assure  thee  of  his  presence — "  I  am  with  thee  to  de- 
liver thee."  He  will  equip  thee — "  Then  the  Lord  put  forth 
his  hand,  and  touched  my  mouth.  And  the  Lord  said  unto 
me,  Behold,  I  have  put  my  words  in  thy  mouth."  How 
the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Jeremiah  we  cannot  tell ; 
whether  audibly  as  to  Samuel,  or  in  the  deep  cha.  :bers  of 
his  soul.  But  when  it  came  he  knew  it.  And  we  shall 
know  it.  Oh  for  the  circumcised  ear  and  the  loyal,  obedi- 
ent heart  1 


I 


I 


«f 


II. 

(Jkrsmiah  L  5.) 

''I  was  not  born 
Informed  and  fettleu  frcm  the  first,  bat  shrank 
From  aught  which  siarked  me  ont  iqpart  from  men  t 
I  would  have  lived  their  lif^  and  died  their  death, 
Lost  in  their  ranks,  eluding  destiny." 

Browning. 

GOD  has  a  plan  for  each  of  his  children.  From  the 
toot  of  the  crosS)  where  we  are  cradled  in  our  second 
birth,  to  the  brink  of  the  river,  where  we  lay  down  our 
armor,  there  is  a  path  which  he  has  prepared  for  us  to 
walk  in.  Its  roughness  and  steeps,  its  velvet  grass  and 
quiet  glades,  its  climb  up  the  mountain  side  and  descent 
into  the  valley  of  dark  shadow,  have  all  been  planned  and 
laid  out  by  his  matchless  wisdom,  his  unerring  love.  The 
path  has  been  prepared ;  it  is  for  us  to  walk  in  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  God  prepares  us  for  the  path  he 
has  chosen.  We  are  his  workmanship,  created  unto  the 
good  works  which  he  has  before  prepared.  There  is  no 
emergency  in  the  path  for  which  there  has  not  been  provis- 
ion made  in  our  nature ;  and  there  is  no  faculty  stored  in 
our  nature  which,  sooner  or  later,  shall  not  have  its  proper 
exercise  and  use.  From  the  earliest  inception  of  being 
God  had  a  plan  for  Jeremiah's  career,  for  which  he  pre- 
pared him.    Before  the  dawn  of  consciousness,  in  the  very 


i8 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  PROPHET 


origin  of  his  being,  the  hands  of  the  great  Master  Work- 
man reached  down  out  of  heaven  to  shape  the  plastic  clay 
for  the  high  purpose  which  he  had  in  view.  Note  the 
conjunction  of  those  two  expressions :  "  I  appointed  and 
sanct^^ed  thee  a  prophet  to  the  nations ;  "  and  again,  "  I 
formed  thee."  God  always  forms  those  whom  he  has  ap- 
pointed and  sanctified  for  any  great  work. 

Ask  what  thy  work  in  the  world  is — that  for  which 
thou  wast  bom,  to  which  thou  wast  appointed,  on  account 
of  which  thou  wast  conceived  in  the  creative  thought  of 
God.  That  there  is  a  divine  purpose  in  thy  being  is  in- 
dubitable. Seek  that  thou  mayest  be  permitted  to  realize 
it.  And  never  doubt  that  thou  hast  been  endowed  with 
all  the  special  aptitudes  which  that  purpose  may  demand. 
God  has  formed  thee  for  it,  storing  thy  mind  with  all  tJiat 
he  knew  to  be  requisite  for  thy  life-work.  It  is  thy  part 
to  elaborate  and  improve  to  the  utmost  the  two  talents 
which  thou  hast.  Do  not  envy  another  his  five.  Those 
three  additional  ones  were  not  needed  for  the  special  pur- 
pose that  the  ;  wast  designed  to  fulfill.  And  it  is  enough 
to  answer  the  uivine  intention  in  thy  creation,  redemption, 
or  call  to  service,  whatever  it  may  have  been.  Do  not  be 
jealous  or  covetous ;  it  is  enough^ior-thee^o^be^iKhatXkKL 
made  thee  to  be,  and  to  be  always  at  thy  best. 


I.  The  Divine  Purpose. — "I  knew  thee^ . . .  I  sanctified 
thee^  .  .  .  I  have  appointed  thee  aprophet.^^  In  that  degen- 
erate age  the  great  Lover  of  souls  needed  a  spokesman ; 
and  the  divine  decree  determined  the  conditions  of  Jere- 
miah's birth  and  character  and  life.  How  this  could  be 
consistent  with  the  exercise  of  personal  volition  and  choice 
on  the  part  of  the  youthful  prophet,  we  cannot  say.  We 
can  only  see  the  two  piers  of  the  mighty  arch,  but  not  the 
arch  itself,  since  the  mists  of  time  veil  it,  and  we  are  dim 


// 


/  FORMED  THEE" 


^9 


^1 


of  sight.  Some  try  to  explain  it  by  introducing  the  thought 
of  foreknowledge ;  they  quote  the  words,  "  Whom  he  did 
foreknow  he  also  did  predestinate."  But,  after  all,  this 
only  carries  the  difficulty  one  step  farther  back  into  mys- 
tery. 

It  is  wise  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  while  life  is  yet  young, 
the  direction  of  the  divine  f  rpose.  There  are  four  con- 
siderations that  will  help  us :  First,  the  indication  of  our 
natural  aptitudes ;  for  these,  when  touched  by  the  Divine 
Spirit,  become  talents  or  gifts.  Secondly,  the  inward  im- 
pulse or  energy  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  working  in  us  both  to 
will  ard  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure.  Thirdly,  the  teaching 
of  the  Word  of  God.  Fourthly,  the  evidence  of  the  cir- 
cumstances and  demands  of  life.  When  these  concur,  and 
focus  in  one  point,  there  need  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  divine 
purpose  and  plan.  It  was  thus  that  God  disclosed  to 
Samuel  and  Jeremiah  and  Saul  of  Tarsus  the  futiure  for 
which  they  were  destined.  And  it  is  extremely  delightful 
when,  from  the  first  bud  of  youth  to  the  flower  and  fruit 
of  maturity,  the  heavenly  vision  has  molded  the  entire 
tenor  and  development  of  the  life. 

But  in  cases  where  the  divine  purpose  is  not  so  clearly 
disclosed,  in  which  life  is  necessarily  lived  piecemeal,  and 
the  bits  of  marble  for  the  tessellated  floor  are  heaped  to- 
gether with  no  apparent  plan,  we  must  dare  to  believe  that 
God  has  an  intention  for  each  of  us,  and  that  if  we  are 
true  to  our  noblest  ideals  we  shall  certainly  work  out  the 
divine  pattern  and  be  permitted  some  day  to  see  it  in  its 
unveiled  symmetery  and  beauty.  Perhaps  the  noblest  aim 
for  any  of  us  is  to  realize  that  word  which,  according  to 
the  margin  of  the  Revised  Version,  was  addressed  by  God 
to  Jeremiah,  when  he  said  to  him,  "  On  whatsoever  errand 
I  shall  send  thee,  thou  shalt  go ;  and  whatsoever  I  shall 
command  thee,  thou  shalt  speak." 


11 


^ 


so 


JEREMIAH,  TR/EST  AND  TROPHET 


To  run  errands  for  God !  To  be  like  the  angels  that 
excel  in  strength,  that  do  his  commandments,  hearkening  to 
the  voice  of  his  word!  To  resemble  the  boy  messengers  in 
some  of  our  large  cities,  that  wait  in  readiness  to  discharge 
any  commission  that  may  be  intrusted  to  them  1  To  know 
that  your  message  is  as  certainly  given  you  as  the  letter 
which  is  placed  under  the  wing  of  the  carrier-pigeon! 
To  go  on  occupying  the  position  in  which  we  have  been 
placed  by  the  providence  of  God,  but  to  hold  it  for  God 
till  he  bids  us  do  something  else  1  Such  are  golden  secrets 
of  blessedness  and  usefulness. 

Jril.  Formative  Influences. — li  is  very  interesting  to 
study  the  formative  influences  that  were  brought  to  bear  on 
the  character  of  Jeremiah.  There  were  the  character  and 
disposition  of  his  mother,  and  the  priestly  office  of  his 
father.  There  was  the  picturesque  beauty  of  his  birth- 
place, the  village  of  Anathoth,  lying  on  the  highroad  three 
miles  north  of  Jerusalem,  encircled  by  the  famous  hills  of 
Benjamin,  and  looking  down  the  ravine  on  tl:e  blue  waters 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  gleaming  at  the  foot  of  the  purple  hills 
of  Moab.  There  was  the  near  proximity  of  th(j  Holy  City, 
rendering  it  possible  for  the  boy  to  be  present  at  all  the 
holy  festivals,  and  to  receive  such  instruction  as  the  best 
seminaries  of  instruction  could  provide.  There  was  the 
companionship  and  association  of  godly  families,  which  still 
preserved  the  religion  of  their  forefathers,  and  treasured  as 
sacred  relics  the  literature,  psalms,  and  history  of  our  purer 
and  better  days.  There  were  also  the  prophets  Nahum  and 
Zephaniah,  who  were  burning  as  bright  constellations  in 
that  dark  sky,  to  be  soon  joined  by  himself. 

His  mind  was  evidently  very  sensitive  to  all  the  influ- 
ences of  his  early  life.  His  speech  is  satmaied  with  refer- 
ences to  natural  emblems  and  national  customs,  to  the  life 


' 


II 


I  FORMED  THEE'* 


at 


of  men,  and  the  older  literature  of  the  Bible.  Take,  for 
instance,  his  earliest  sermon,  in  which  he  refers  to  the  story 
of  the  Exodus,  and  the  pleadings  of  Deuteronomy ;  to  the 
roar  of  the  young  lion,  and  the  habits  of  the  wild  ass ;  to 
the  young  camel  traversing  her  ways,  and  the  Arabian  of 
the  wilderness ;  to  the  murmur  of  the  brook,  and  the  hew- 
ing of  the  cistern.  His  quick  and  sensitive  soul  eagerly 
incorporated  the  influences  of  the  varied  life  around  him, 
and  reproduced  them.  Many  fabrics  were  woven  into  the 
texture  of  his  mind.  Many  flowers  mingled  their  perfume 
in  the  inclosure  of  his  heart.  Many  chords  made  up  the 
music  of  his  speech. 

It  is  thus  that  God  is  ever  at  work,  forming  and  molding 
us.  Whenever  you  are  called  to  pass  through  an  experi- 
ence which  is  unusually  trying  and  difficult,  comfort  your- 
self by  the  thought  that  you  are  being  fitted  for  some  high 
purpose  that  has  not  yet  been  made  known,  but  which  will 
lay  its  demand  on  that  very  experience  which  has  been  per- 
mitted for  that  end.  And  as  you  look  back  on  your  life, 
you  will  see  how  all  has  been  ordered  to  fit  you  to  fulfill  a 
ministry  to  others  that  would  have  been  less  worthily  ful- 
filled had  you  been  excused  from  the  tears,  the  hardships, 
the  privations  of  a  single  day.  The  plan  of  God  threads 
the  maze  of  life.  The  purpose  of  God  gives  meaning  to 
many  of  its  strange  experiences.  Be  brave  and  trustful  1 
If  he  serves  himself  of  thee,  he  will  recompense  thee. 
He  is  not  unfaithful  to  forget. 

There  is  a  striking  illustration  of  this  in  one  of  the  clos- 
ing scenes  of  Joseph's  life.  Speaking  to  his  brethren  of 
the  pit  and  the  afflictions  to  which  it  led,  he  said,  "Ye 
meant  it  for  evil ;  but  God  meant  it  for  good  "  (Gen.  1.  20). 
Standing  on  the  eminence  of  the  years,  he  was  able  to  read 
God's  meaning  in  that  dark  and  mysterious  providence. 
And  if  be  had  been  asked  to  state  his  view  of  the  divine 


atei 


99 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


reason  in  the  trials  and  hardships  of  those  early  days,  fast 
fading  behind  the  mist  of  years,  he  would  probably  have 
answered,  "  God  was  forming  me  for  my  future ;  prepar- 
ing me  for  what  he  had  prepared  for  me ;  disciplining  and 
equipping  me  for  the  position  that  awaited  me ;  and  there 
is  no  single  incident  in  all  those  weary  years  through  which 
I  passed  that  I  could  have  dispensed  with,  except  at  a  seri- 
ous disadvantage  to  my  present  standing." 


III.  There  was  also  a  Special  Preparation  and  As- 
surance FOR  HIS  Life-work. — "  The  Lord  put  forth  his 
hand,  and  touched  my  mouth.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me, 
Behold,  I  have  put  my  words  in  thy  mouth."  In  a  similar 
manner  had  the  seraph  touched  the  lips  of  Isaiah  years  be- 
fore. And  we  are  reminded  that  the  Lord  Jesus  promised 
that  the  Spirit  of  the  Father  should  put  appropriate  words 
into  the  lips  of  his  disciples  when  summoned  before  the 
tribunals  of  their  foes.  Words  are  the  special  gift  of  God. 
They  were  the  endowment  of  the  Church  at  Pentecost. 
And  it  is  always  an  evidence  of  a  Spirit-filled  man  when 
he  begins  to  speak  as  the  Spirit  gives  him  utterance. 

God  never  asks  us  to  go  on  his  errands  (i.  7)  without 
telling  us  what  to  say.  If  we  are  living  in  fellowship  with 
him,  he  will  impress  his  messages  on  our  minds,  and  en- 
rich our  life  with  the  appropriate  utterances  by  which  those 
messages  shall  be  conveyed  to  our  fellows.  Do  any  read 
these  words  who,  like  Moses,  lack  this  royal  endowment — 
their  words  fall  pointless  and  dead?  Let  them  offer  their 
lips  to  speak,  not  with  the  wisdom  of  human  words,  or  with 
the  grace  of  human  eloquence,  but  with  the  power  and 
demonstration  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  their  appeal  will 
not  be  denied.  If  only  God's  glory  be  our  object,  God's 
hand  will  be  put  forth  to  touch  our  mouth,  and  he  will 
leave  his  words  there. 


I 


tl 


I  FORMED  THEE" 


aj 


i) 


Two  other  assurances  were  also  given:  First,  "Thou 
shalt  go  to  whomsoever  I  shall  send  thee."  This  gave  a 
definiteness  and  directness  to  the  prophet's  speech.  Sec- 
ondly, "  Be  not  afraid  because  of  them,  for  I  am  with  thee 
to  deliver  thee,  saith  the  Lord  " — an  assurance  which  was 
remarkably  fulfilled,  as  we  shall  £ee  in  the  unfolding  of 
this  narrative. 

These  are  marvelous  words,  spoken  to  us  all,  as  God 
sends  us  on  a  mission  or  errand  into  the  world.  It  may 
be  of  greater  or  less  consequence — to  rule  an  empire  or 
nurse  a  single  babe ;  to  be  an  apostle  or  to  care  for  a  few 
sheep  in  the  wilderness.  But  we  are  no  less  sent  than  Jesus 
was  from  the  bosom  of  the  Father — sent  to  learn,  sent  to 
suffer,  sent  to  achieve ;  sent  on  an  errand  as  Joseph  was 
from  the  patriarchal  tent. 

And  just  as  long  as  we  are  on  the  prepared  path,  per- 
forming the  appointed  mission,  he  is  with  us.  We  may 
defy  death.  We  bear  a  charmed  life.  We  are  more  than 
conquerors.  The  music  of  his  voice  sounds  in  our  heart, 
though  defaming  and  terror  are  on  every  side  (xx.  lo). 
Men  may  fight  against  us,  but  they  cannot  prevail,  for  the 
Lord  of  hosts  is  with  us,  the  God  of  Jacob  is  our  refuge 
(i.  19). 

IV.  Lastly,  God  Vouchsafed  a  Twofold  Vision  to 
HIS  Child. — On  the  one  hand,  the  swift-blossoming  almond- 
tree  assured  him  that  God  would  -watch  over  him  and  see, 
to  the  swift  performance  of  his  predictions ;  on  the  other, 
the  seething  caldron,  turned  toward  the  north,  indicated 
the  breaking  out  of  evil.  So  the  pendulum  of  life  swings 
to  and  fro,  now  to  ligHTand  then  to  dark.  But  happy  is 
the  man  whose  heart  is  fixed,  trusting  in  the  Lord.  He 
is  hidden  in  the  secret  of  God's  pavilion  from  the  strife  of 
tongues,  and  abides  in  the  secret  place  of  the  tabernacle 


trt^'tiWiawngyaHUiaai 


Mmm 


H  JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  ANI>  VROPHET 

of  the  Most  High.  Men  may  fight  against  hwi  but  shall 
not  prevail  against  him ;  for  he  is  encircled  in  the  environ- 
ing care  of  Jehovah.  As  he  spake  to  Jeremiah,  so  he  ad- 
dresses us :  "  They  shall  fight  against  thee ;  but  they  shall 
not  prevail  against  thee;  for  I  am  with  thee,  saith  the 
Lord,  to  deliver  thee  "  (i.  19).  "  Man  is  immortal  till  his 
work  is  done." 

There  was  a  period  in  Jeremiah's  life  when  he  seems  to 
have  swerved  from  the  pathway  of  complete  obedience 
(xv.  19),  and  to  have  gone  back  from  following  the  God- 
given  plan.  Surrounded  by  contention  and  strife,  cursed 
as  though  he  were  a  usurer,  reproached  and  threatened 
with  death,  he  lost  heart  and  fainted  in  the  precipitous 
path.  And  immediately  he  had  good  reason  to  fear  that 
the  divine  protection  had  been  withdrawn.  We  are  safe 
only  when  we  are  on  God's  plan.  But  as  he  returned  again 
to  his  allegiance,  these  precious  promises  were  renewed,  and 
again  sounded  in  his  ears:  "I  will  make  thee  unto  this 
people  a  fenced  brazen  wall :  and  they  shall  fight  against 
thee,  but  they  shall  not  prevail  against  thee :  for  I  am  with 
thee  to  save  thee  and  to  deliver  thee,  saith  ttie  Lord.  And  I 
will  deliver  thee  out  of  the  hand  of  the  wicked,  and  I  will 
redeem  thee  out  of  the  hand  of  the  terrible." 


! 


't 


iTf 


I, 


III. 


H 


T' 


(Jeremiah  ii.  13.) 


**  Attempt,  how  vain — 
With  things  of  earthly  sort,  with  aught  but  God, 
With  aught  but  moral  excellence,  truth,  and  love- 
To  satisfy  and  fill  the  immortal  soul! 
To  satisfy  the  ocean  with  a  drop ; 
To  marry  immortality  to  death ; 
And  with  the  unsubstantial  slave  of  time 
To  fill  the  embrace  of  all  eternity." 

PoLLOK's  "  Course  of  Time." 

THERE  was  probably  but  little  interval  between  Jere- 
miah's call  and  his  entrance  upon  his  sacred  work. 
When  once  the  Spirit  of  God  has  established  a  code  of 
communications  between  himself  and  the  soul  whom  he 
has  selected  to  be  his  mouthpiece,  he  is  likely  to  avail 
himself  of  it  constantly.  The  difficulty  is  to  lay  down  the 
wire  through  the  ocean  depths ;  but  when  it  is  there,  the 
messages  flash  to  and  fro  repeatedly.  So  we  are  told  that 
to  this  young  ardent  soul  "the  word  of  the  Lord  came" 
(ii.  i).     Coming,  it  thrilled  him. 

/He  dwelt  but  lightly  on  the  ominous  mention  of  the  in- 
evitable conflict  which  the  divine  voice  prognosticated. 
He  did  not  stay  to  gauge  the  full  pressure  of  opposition 
indicated  in  the  celestial  storm-signal.  He  had  been  told 
that  kings  and  princes,  priests  and  people,  would  fight 

H 


26 


JEREMlAHf  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


against  him ;  but  in  the  first  blush  of  his  young  faith  he 
thought  more  of  the  presence  of  Jehovah,  who  had  prom- 
ised to  make  him  "  a  defensed  city,  and  an  iron  pillar,  and 
brazen  walls  against  the  whole  land."  H*^  fpn^fHy  ^^^ 
yeik-oui'  futurO)  anri  lends  us  forward -step  by-fit^!  But 
there  is  a  difference  between  the  elastic  hopefulness  of 
youth  and  the  experience  of  manhood.  The  earlier  chap- 
ters of  Jeremiah  differ  from  his  LamentationsJsMktbfi-^K^t-' 

-^eii  of  iprinc  frfi"^  ^^^  "*^^^  foliagi  of  nutnnin 

As  we  study  the  words  and  deeds  of  thisjuosLiuuBaxi  of 
prophets,  let  us  pass  through  his  plaintive  cries  and  tears 
and  prayers,  to  that  Divine  Man,  whose  gentle  spirit  was 
so  closely  anticipated  and  reflected  in  that  of  his  servant. 
|In  every  age  he  is  at  work  through  his  servants,  striving 
'against  sin  in  every  form,  and  seeking  to  set  up  his  reign 
of  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy/  In  Jeremiah's  words  we 
have  his  vehement  beseechmp'  and  remonstrances;  in 
Jeremiah's  prayers  we  have  echoes  of  the  unutterable  in-, 
tercessions  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  in  Jeremiah's  conflicts  we- 
have  the  divine  antagonism  against  flesh  and  blood  and 
the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world;  in  Jeremiah's 
Lamentations  we  have  the  divine  grief  over  human  willful- 
ness. This  priest  and  prophet  of  the  Jerusalem  of  David 
and  Solomon  had  a  remarkable  course  to  pursue,  in  pre- 
senting in  the  obscure  mirror  of  his  life  the  cross  and  sor- 
row of  the  true  Priest  and  Prophet  of  the  restored  Jeru- 
salem. 

I.  The  Prophet's  Twofold  Burden. — When  Jeremiah 
began  his  ministry,  going  from  Anathoth  to  Jerusalem  for 
that  purpose  (ii.  2),  Josiah,  though  only  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  had  been  for  thirteen  years  on  the  throne.  He 
was  commencing  those  measures  of  reform  which  availed 
to  postpone,  though  not  to  avert,  the  doom  of  city  and 


•■ 


1 


y 


V9 


11 


7 


II 


m 


CISTERN-MAKING 


27 


\ 


X 


nation.  His  measures  were  as  drastic  as  those  of  Crom- 
well and  his  soldiers  in  their  determined  effort  to  remove 
every  vestige  of  popery  from  churches  and  public  build- 
ings. "  They  brake  down  the  altars  of  the  Baalim  in  his  pres- 
ence ;  and  the  sun-images,  that  were  on  high  above  them, 
he  hewed  down ;  and  the  Asherim,  and  the  graven  images, 
and  the  molten  images,  he  brake  in  pieces,  and  made  dust 
^of  them,  and  strewed  it  upon  the  graves  of  them  that  had 
V)  sacrificed  unto  them.  And  he  burned  the  bones  of  the 
priests  upon  their  altars,  and  purged  Judah  and  Jerusalem" 
(jChron.  xxxiv.  4,  5,  r.v.)^-4~ 
]"^3xhere  must  have  been  a  great  cawing  among  the  rooks 
when  the  trees  in  which  they  had  so  long  nested  were  felled. 
For  seventy  years  the  grossest  forms  of  idolatry  had  held 
almost  undisputed  sway.  The  impious  orgies  and  degrad- 
ing rites  which  licensed  vice  as  a  part  of  religion  were  in 
harmony  with  the  depraved  tastes  of  the  people.  What, 
therefore,  ecclesiastics  and  their  flocks  felt  toward  Henry 
Vni.  when  he  demolished  the  monasteries,  and  toward  the 
Protector  when  his  officers  pursued  their  work  of  devasta- 
tion, must  have  found  ready  place  in  those  early  years  of 
Josiah's  reign. 

The  result  was,  first,  that  the  work  of  reform  was  largely 
superficial.  It  did  not  strike  beneath  the  surface,  or  change 
the  trend  of  national  choice.  And  secondly,  this  policy 
compacted  together  a  strong  political  party  determined  to 
promote  a  closer  alliance  with  Egypt,  which,  under  Psam- 
metichus,  had  just  asserted  her  independence  against  the 
king  of  Assyria.  In  these  two  directions  the  young  prophet 
was  called  to  make  his  influence  felt.  ^ 

'  Firsty  Jie  protested  against  the  prevalent  sin  around  him. 
The  one  thought  of  the  people  was  to  preserve  the  out- 
ward acknowledgment  of  Jehovah  by  the  maintenance  of 
the  Temple  services  and  rites.     If  these  were  rigorously 


a8 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


-? 


observed  they  considered  that  there  was  no  sufficient  cause 
for  charging  thep  with  the  sin  of  apostasy.    They  insisted 

^     "--thatj^y  werejnot  polluted  (ii.  23),  and  reiterated  with 

wearisome'monotony,  "  The  Temple  of  the  Lord,  The  Tem-  v  "^ 
pie  of  the  Lord,  The  Temple  of  the  Lord,  are  these  "  (vii.  4).  ' 
a  It  was  Jeremiah's  mission  to  show  that  mere  outward 
|)bseryance  was  worse  than  useless,  and  was  compatible 
Ivith  a  real  forsaking  of  Godj  Like  the  hectic  flush,  it 
only  concealed  the  corruption  eating  its  way  into  the  heart. 
Like  the  flowers  on  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  it  hid  the 
fatal  brink.  Nominal  profession  is  compatible  with  utter 
atheism,  and  with  the  worst  form  of  atheism,  because  the 
heart  parries  every  attack  with  the  foil  of  apparent  and 
avowed  belief. 

I  This  will  account  for  the  plain  denunciations  of  sin  that 
came  burning-hot  from  tht  lips  of  the  young  prophet. 
He  includes  the  priests  and  e  cpounders  of  the  law,  pastors 

.^  and  prophets,  in  his  scathing  words,iji.  8).  \  The  Valley  of 
Hinnom,  wTtli  its"oB^cene~an3  cruel  rites,  is  quoted  in  evi- 
dence against  them  (23) ;  the  blood  of  children  flung  into 
the  fires  is  detected  on  their  robes  (34)  \  the  trees  of  the 
groves  whisper  what  they  have  witnessed  beneath  their 
shadow ;  and  the  jagged  rocks  tell  stories  they  dare  not 
conceal  (20 ;  iii.  6).  Every  metaphor  is  adopted  that  human 
art  can  suggest  to  bring  home  to  the  people  their  infidelity 
to  their  great  Lover  and  Redeemer,  God  (iii.  20). 
/  Ife  also  protested  against  the  proposal  to  form  an  Egyptian 
alliance.  \  The  little  land  of  Canaan  lay  between  the  vast 
rival  empires  founded  on  the  Nile  and  the  Euphrates, 
much  as  Switzerland  between  France  and  Austria.  It 
was  therefore  constantly  exposed  to  the  transit  of  im- 
mense armies,  like  locusts  destroying  everything,  or  to  the 
hostile  incursions  of  one  or  other  of  its  belligerent  neigh- 
bors.   It  had  always  been  the  policy  of  a  considerable 


V 


h 


:>? 


CISTERN-MAKING 


39 


party  at  the  court  of  Jerusalem  to  cultivate  alliance  with 
Egypt  or  Assyria.  In  Hezekiah's  and  Manasseh's  time 
the  tendency  had  been  toward  Assyria ;  now  it  was  toward 
Egypt,  which  had  in  a  remarkable  way  thrown  off  the  yoke 
which  the  great  king  Esarhaddon  u^ree  terrible  campaigns 
had  sought  to  rivet  on  its  nock.''*^tThe  prophet  strenuously 
opposed  these  overtures.  /  Why  should  his  people  bind 
themselves  to  the  fortunes  of  any  heathen  nation  whatso- 
ever? Was  not  God  their  King  ?  Would  not  he  succor 
them  in  times  of  overflowing  calamity  ?  Surely  their  true 
policy  was  to  stand  alone,  untrammeled  by  foreign  alli- 
ances, resting  only  on  the  mighty  power  of  Jehovah,  serv- 
ing his  purposes,  true  to  his  law,  devoted  to  his  will.^ 
"  What  hast  thou  to  do  in  the  way  of  Egjrpt,  to  drink  the 
waters  of  Sihor  [/.<?.,  the  black  Nile]  ?  or  what  hast  thou  to 
do  in  the  way  of  Assyria,  to  drink  the  waters  of  the  river  ? 
.  .  .  Why  gaddest  thou  about  so  much  to  change  thy 
way?  thou  also  shalt  be  ashamed  of  Egypt,  as  thou  wasl 
ashamed  of  Assyria.  Yea,  thou  shalt  go  forth  from  him, 
and  thine  hands  upon  thine  head :  for  the  Lord  hath  re-  . 
jected  thy  confidences,  and  thou  shalt  not  prosper  in  them"^ 

(iitJ^  36,  37).  -***^ 

/  This,  then,  was  Jeremiah's  mission — to  stand  almost 

alone ;  to  protest  against  the  sins  of  the  people,  which  were 

covered  by  their  boasted  reverence  to  Jehovah,  whom  they 

worshiped  as  the  tutelary  deity  of  their  land,  besides  m 

false  gods ;  and  to  oppose  the  policy  of  the  comtf 

sought  to  cultivate  friendly  relations  with  the  on?  power 

that  seemed  able  to  render  aid  to  his  fatherland  in  the 

awful  struggle  with  the  northern  kingdom  which  he  saw  to 

be  imminent  (i.  i.t;|rnAnd  thin  minifitr)r  was  pYPrriRpd  in 

thfi..J,eftth,  Ql.4li€-ma§]S.,yilUlent ,  .opposition.     Here  was  a 

priest  denouncing  the  practices  of  priests,  a  prophet  the 

lies  of  prophets.    It  was  no  light  thing  to  expose  the  false- 


I 


30 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


hoods  alike  of  priest  and  prophet,  and  accuse  them  of 
healing  the  hurt  of  the  daughter  of  his  people  slightly,  say- 
ing, "  Peace,  peace,"  when  there  was  no  peace.  Small  won- 
der, therefore,  that  the  most  powerful  parties  in  the  state 
conspired  against  him,  as  in  after-days  Pilate  and  Herod 
joined  hands  against  Christ. 


JI.^HE  Imagery  He  Employed. — It  is  a  scene  among 
the  mountains.  In  that  green  glade  a  fountain  rises  icy- 
cold  from  the  depths,  and  pours  its  silver  stream  downward 
through  the  valley.  You  can  hear  the  music  of  its  ripple, 
and  trace  its  course  by  the  vegetation  that  follows  it.  It 
is  always  flowing  in  abundance  for  young  and  old,  for  the 
villagers  in  the  hamlets,  and  when  it  has  grown  fuller  and 
broader  for  the  inhabitants  of  large  towns  along  its  course. 
But  its  banks  are  unvisited,  neither  cup  nor  bucket  descends 
into  its  crystal  depths ;  for  all  practical  purposes  it  might 
as  well  cease  to  flow. 

Far  away  from  that  verdant  valley  you  hear  the  clink 
of  the  chisel,  and  presently  discover  people  of  every  age 
and  rank  engaged  in  making  cisterns  to  supply  their  homes. 
The  bead-drops  stand  thick  upon  their  brow,  as  from  early 
dawn  to  far  on  into  the  night  they  pursue  their  arduous  toil, 
wrestling  with  the  stubborn  granite.  They  will  not  avail 
themselves  of  the  materials  of  former  times,  nor  utilize  the 
half-hewn  cisterns  deserted  by  their  ancestors.  Each  man 
has  his  own  scheme,  his  own  design.  He  toils  at  it  when 
spring  casts  her  green  mantle  over  the  pasture-lands  that 
come  to  the  edge  of  the  quarry,  and  when  the  summer  heat 
makes  the  quarry  like  a  kiln.  While  others  are  gathering  in 
the  ruddy  grape  or  golden  com,  he  remains  constant  to  his 
toil,  and  he  is  there  amid  the  biting  cold  of  winter.  After 
years  of  work  he  may  achieve  his  purpose  and  complete 
the  cistern  on  which  he  has  spent  his  years.    He  calls  on 


CISTERN-MAKING 


31 


his  neighbors  to  view  his  accomplished  purpose,  and  waits 
expectant  of  the  shower.  Presently  it  descends,  and  he  is 
filled  with  pride  and  pleasure  to  think  of  the  store  of  water 
which  he  has  been  able  to  secure.  But  lo  !  it  does  not 
stay.  As  soon  as  it  enters  it  passes  out.  There  is  a  fatal 
crack  or  flaw,  or  the  stone  is  too  porous.  He  finds  what 
every  one  of  his  neighbors  has  found,  or  will  find,  that  with 
the  utmost  care  the  cisterns  wrought  in  the  quarry  can  hold 
no  water. 

What  an  infinite  mistake  to  miss  the  fountain  freely  flow- 
ing to  quench  the  thirst,  and  hew  out  the  broken  cistern  in 
which  is  disappointment  and  despair  !  Yet  this,  said  the 
prophet,  was  the  precise  position  of  Israel.  They  had  done 
as  no  nation  else,  though  search  were  made  from  the  far 
west  of  Chittim  to  the  far  east  of  Kedar.  The  heathen, 
at  least,  were  constant  to  their  gods.  False  religions  were 
indigenous  to  the  lands  where  they  had  originated — the 
same  idols  worshiped,  the  same  rites  performed,  the  same 
temples  filled  with  succeeding  generations.  But  the  peo- 
ple of  Jehovah  had  forsaken  him  as  a  maid  might  lay 
aside  her  ornaments,  or  a  bride  her  attire ;  and  in  resorting 
to  false  religions  and  heathen  alliances  they  were  hewing 
out  for  themselves  broken  cisterns  which  would  fail  them 
in  their  hour  of  need. 

Very  pathetically  the  prophet  reminds  them  of  the  past. 
The  kindness  of  their  youth,  the  love  of  their  espousals, 
their  holiness  to  the  Lord,  and  the  song  with  which  they 
celebrated  their  deliverance  on  the  sliores  of  the  Red  Sea, 
suggested  a  sad  contrast  to  the  evils  that  cursed  the  land. 
Through  him  the  voice  of  God  is  heard  inquiring  the  rea- 
son of  this  lamentable  apostasy.  The  chapter  is  full  of 
questions,  as  though  God  would  elicit  the  charge  upon 
which  they  had  deserted  him.  "What  unrighteousness 
have  your  fathers  found  in  me,  that  they  are  gone  far  from 


JKMttdWVMftb. 


3* 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


me,  and  have  walked  after  vanity,  and  are  become  vain? 
.  .  .  Have  I  been  a  wilderness  unto  Israel?  a  land  of 
darkness  ?  wherefore  say  my  people,  We  are  broken  loose ; 
we  will  come  no  more  unto  thee  ?  " 

There  is  nothing  sadder  than  the  ebb  of  love,  when  we 
are  compelled  to  sit  on  the  beach  and  watch  the  slowly  re- 
ceding waters  as  they  drop  down  from  the  high-water  mark 
which  they  had  reached  with  the  dancing  wavelets.  This 
takes  the  light  from  the  eye,  and  the  spring  from  tlie  foot. 
Life  can  never  again  be  quite  as  it  was.  The  tide  may 
come  up  again ;  but  it  will  never  efface  the  recollection  of  the 
ebb,  and  the  fear  of  its  return.  This  in  human  experience 
is  something  like  the  pain  felt  by  the  Eternal,  as  he  saw 
Israel,  for  whom  he  had  done  jo  much,  turn  from  him 
to  strangers.  Bitter,  indeed,  to  hear  them  say  to  a  stock, 
"  Thou  art  my  father ;  "  and  to  a  stone,  "  Thou  hast  brought 
me  forth."  Their  apostasy  was  to  God  as  though  a  wife 
should  go  from  the  husband  tliat  doted  upon  her,  and  be- 
come another  man's  (iii.  x). 


III.  Its  Application  to  Ourselves. — Many  cistern- 
makers  may  read  these  words— each  with  soul-thirst  crav- 
ing satisfaction;  each  within  easy  reach  of  God,  whose 
nature  is  as  rock- water  for  those  that  are  athirst ;  but  all 
attempting  the  impossible  task  of  satisfying  the  thirst  for 
the  infinite  and  divine  with  men  and  things. 

There  is  the  cistern  of  Pleasure^  embroidered  with  fruits 
and  flowers  and  bacchanalian  figures,  wrought  at  the  cost 
of  health  and  rest ;  the  cistern  of  Wealthy  gilded  and  inlaid 
with  pearls,  like  the  mangers  of  the  stud  of  Eastern  kings ; 
the  cistern  of  Fatne^  hewn  by  the  youth  who  tore  himself 
from  the  welcome  of  home  and  the  embrace  of  human 
love,  to  climb  with  his  banner  of  strange  device  the  unfre- 
quented solitudes  of  the  mountain  summit,  far  above  all 


\ 


CISTERN-MAKING 


33 


rivalry,  and  even  companionship ;  the  cistern  of  Human 
Love^  which,  however  beautiful  as  a  revelation  of  the  Divine 
Love,  can  never  satisfy  the  soul  that  rests  in  it  alone — all 
these,  made  at  infinite  cost  of  time  and  pains,  deceive  and 
disappoint.  In  the  expressive  words  of  Jeremiah,  they  are 
"broken  cisterns,  that  can  hold  no  water."  And  in  the  time 
of  trouble  they  will  not  be  able  to  save  those  that  have 
constructed  and  trusted  them. 

At  your  feet,  O  weary  cistern-hewer,  the  fountain  of 
God's  love  is  flowing  through  the  channel  of  the  Divine 
Man  !  Stoop  to  drink  it.  We  must  descend  to  the  level 
of  the  stream,  if  its  waters  are  to  flow  over  our  parched  lips 
to  slake  oiu*  thirst.  You  have  already  dropped  your  tools, 
and  are  weary  of  your  toil.  List  to  the  music  that  fills 
the  air  and  floats  around,  like  the  chime  of  angel  voices : 
"  Come  back  to  God.  Do  the  first  works.  Forsake  the 
alliances  and  idolatries  which  have  alienated  you  from  your 
best  Friend.  Open  your  heart,  that  he  may  create  in  you 
the  fountain  of  living  water,  leaping  up  to  eternal  life. 
.  .  .  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say.  Come  !  And  he  that 
heareth,  let  him  say.  Come  !  And  he  that  is  athirst,  let  him 
come :  he  that  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 


;aB 


t  I 


IV. 


(Jeremiah  iii.-vi.) 

**  Surely  the  time  is  short, 
Endless  the  task  and  art, 
To  brighten  for  the  ethereal  court 
A  soil'd,  earth-drudging  heart : 
But  He,  the  dread  Proclaimer  of  that  hour, 
Is  pledged  to  thee  in  Love,  as  to  thy  foes  in  Power." 

JVEBLk* 


WE  do  not  know  how  Jer«;miah's  first  address  was  re- 
ceived. It  was  impossible  for  Jerusalem  to  have 
heard  the  eager  pleadings  of  the  young  preachei,  protesting 
so  earnestly  against  the  policy  of  its  leaders  and  the  prac- 
tices of  its  priests,  without  becoming  aware  that  a  new 
force  had  entered  the  arena  of  its  public  life.  And  from 
that  Tiioment,  through  the  forty-four  years  that  followed, 
the  influence  of  his  holy  example  and  fervent  words  was 
destined  to  make  itself  mightily  felt.  One  star  of  hope 
more  shone  over  that  hotbed  of  corruption,  the  very  atmos- 
phere of  which  was  charged  with  symptoms  of  impending 
dissolution.  Another  voice  was  audible  through  which 
God  could  utter  his  pleadings  and  remonstrances. 

In  his  second  discourse,  lasting  from  the  third  to  the 
sixth  chapters  inclusive — and  which  perhaps  is  preserved 
as  a  specimen  of  Jeremiah's  words  at  this  period — there  is 
fin  added  p  3wer  and  pathos.    The  flame  burns  higher ;  the 

34 


THE  SECOND  DISCOURSE 


35 


sword  has  a  keener  edge ;  yet  the  tone  is  more  tremulous 
and  tender.  There  is  more  than  ever  of  the  spirit  of  Jesus, 
bewailing  the  blindness  and  obstinacy  of  men,  as  the  vision 
of  impending  judgment  looms  clearer  before  the  soul,  and 
the  violence  done  to  the  redeeming  love  of  God  is  more 
clearly  apprehended.  In  his  own  touching  words,  Jeremiah 
was  as  a  gentle  lamb  led  to  the  slaughter  (xi.  19) ;  but  he 
was  also  strong  as  a  lion,  in  the  vehemence  with  which  he 
strove  to  avert  the  doom,  already  gathering  on  the  hori- 
zon, and  threatening  to  devastate  his  beloved  fatherland. 
If  any  pure  and  holy  soul  could  have  saved  Judah  by 
its  pleadings,  tears,  and  warnings,  Jeremiah  would  have 
done  it. 

But  it  was  not  to  be.  The  upas  had  struck  its  roots 
too  deeply.  The  ulcer  was  too  inveterat<^  The  evil  that 
Manasseh  had  sown  had  too  thickly  impregnated  the  soil. 
This,  however,  did  not  appear  in  those  early  days  of  Jere- 
miah's ministry,  and  with  all  the  hopefulness  of  youth  he 
thought  that  he  might  yet  avert  the  disaster.  Surely  a  voice 
warning  of  the  rocks  that  lay  direct  in  the  vessel's  course, 
and  a  firm  hand  on  the  tiller,  might  yet  steer  the  good  ship 
into  calm,  deep  water. 

This  discourse  is  occupied  with  a  clear  prevision  of  the 
Chaldean  invasion ;  with  plaintive  expressions  of  pity  and 
pain,  and  eloquent  assertions  of  the  redeeming  grace  of 
God. 


I.  The  Prophet's  Prevision  of  Approaching  Judg- 
ment.— At  the  opening  of  Jeremiah's  ministry,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  land  was  rejoicing  in  a  brief  parenthesis  of  peace, 
like  a  glint  of  light  on  a  mountain  side  in  a  cloudy  and 
dark  day.  It  was  a  welcome  contrast  to  the  experience 
of  the  previous  centuries.  And  it  appeared  probable  that 
it  might  last.    The  mighty  empire  of  Assyria  was  weak- 


36 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


ened  by  internal  dissension ;  Babylon  was  becoming  a  for- 
midable rival  of  Nineveh ;  the  Medes,  under  Cyaxares,  were 
beginning  to  descend  the  western  slopes  of  the  Taurus ; 
while  in  Egypt  Psammetichus  was  too  deeply  engaged  in 
expelling  the  Assyrian  garrisons,  consolidating  his  king- 
dom,  and  founding  his  dynasty,  to  have  leisure  or  desire 
to  interfere  with  the  tiny  neighboring  kingdom. 

Thus  Josiah  was  able  to  pursue  his  reforms  in  peace,  and 
there  was  no  war-cloud  on  the  horizon.  It  was  on  one  of 
these  days  of  Josiah  the  king  (iii.  6)  that  the  newly  ap- 
pointed prophet  startled  the  men  of  Jerusalem  and  Judah 
as  he  made  known  what  he  had  seen  on  his  watch-tower. 

He  had  heard  the  trumpet  summoning  the  peasantry  from 
the  open  country  to  the  fenced  cities,  leaving  their  crops 
at  the  mercy  of  the  invader,  to  save  their  lives.  He  had 
descried  the  lion  stealing  up  from  his  lair  in  the  thicket  to 
destroy  the  nations.  He  had  caught  the  cries  of  the  watch- 
ers from  the  northern  heights  of  Dan  to  Ephraim,  and  so 
to  Jerusalem,  as  they  announced  the  advent  of  the  invader. 
He  had  beheld  the  desolation  of  the  land,  the  hurried  re- 
treat of  the  defenders  of  the  Holy  City  herself,  some  to 
thickets,  and  others  to  holes  in  the  ragged  rocks.  Yes,  and 
he  had  seen  the  daughter  of  Zion  gaspuig  in  the  extreme 
of  her  anguish,  and  crying,  "  Woe  is  me  now  ! " 

So  real  was  the  whole  scene  to  him  that  we  find  him 
turning  to  his  brother  Benjamites,  who  had  fled  for  shelter 
to  the  metropolis,  bidding  them  flee  still  farther  south.  He 
beholds  the  preparations  for  the  siege,  and  the  chagrin  of 
her  assailants  that  the  evening  shadows  of  declining  day 
interpose  between  them  and  her  inevitable  capture.  He 
describes  the  invader  as  a  mighty  and  ancient  nation,  glean- 
ing Israel  as  men  gather  the  last  grapes  into  their  basket ; 
cruel  and  merciless  as  ravening  wolves:  their  quiver  a 
sepulcher ;  their  sword  a  terror ;  their  charging  cry  hoarse 


THE  SECOND  DISCOURSE 


37 


and  deafening  as  the  roar  of  the  sea ;  their  chariots  and 
cavalry  irresistible.  The  mere  report  of  their  deeds  was 
sufficient  to  induce  in  each  hearer,  as  it  were,  the  pangs  of 
travail  (i.  15  ;  iv.  6,  7, 16, 19 ;  vi.9, 19, 21).  And  the  words 
of  the  young  prophet  were  as  fire  to  wood  (v.  14). 

It  has  been  supposed  that  these  words  referred  to  the 
invasion  of  the  Scythians,  who  about  this  time  poured  in 
countless  hordes  over  western  Asia.  The  cities  of  Nin- 
eveh and  Babylon  alone,  because  of  their  great  strength, 
escaped ;  the  open  country  was  swept  utterly  bare ;  all  who 
could  not  escape  were  barbarously  massacred  or  carried 
off  as  slaves ;  villages  and  towns  Virere  turned  into  charred 
and  smoking  ruins.  But  these  barbarian  hordes  do  not  ful- 
fill the  entire  scope  of  the  prophet's  words.  They  do  not 
appear  to  have  entered  Palestine,  but  to  have  passed  down 
on  the  eastern  or  western  frontier,  skirting  the  territory  of 
Josiah,  and  driving  the  panic-stricken  people  to  the  shelter 
of  the  larger  cities,  whence  they  traced  the  path  of  the  in- 
vaders, lit  by  conflagrations  kindled  on  their  ruthless  march. 
It  is  better,  therefore,  to  refer  these  ominous  words  to  the 
invasion  of  Judah  by  Babylon,  which  was  to  take  place  in 
thirty  years,  but  of  which  the  people  were  amply  warned, 
that  they  might  put  away  their  abominations  and  return  to 
the  Fountain  of  Living  Waters. 


II.  His  Plaintive  Expression  of  Pity  and  Pain. — 
The  tender  heart  of  Jeremiah  was  filled  with  the  utmost 
sorrow  at  the  heavy  tidings  he  was  called  to  announce. 
Throughout  the  book  we  constantly  encounter  the  expres- 
sions of  his  anguish.  True  patriot  as  he  was,  it  was  hard 
for  him  to  contemplate  the  impending  destruction  of  the 
Holy  City.  The  noblest  traditions  of  his  people  were  rep- 
resented in  those  cries  which  for  a  little  demand  our  con- 
sideration. 


38 


JEREMIAH,  TRJEST  AND  TROPHET 


"  The  sword,"  he  says, "  reaches  to  the  soul."  And  again, 
"  My  heart !  my  heart !  I  writhe  in  pain  !  the  walls  of 
my  heart  will  break  !  my  heart  groans  within  me ;  I  can- 
not keep  it  still"  (iv.  19,  free  translation).  He  identifies 
himself  with  his  land,  and  it  seems  as  though  the  curtains 
of  his  own  tents  are  being  spoiled,  as  in  a  moment.  He 
struggles  against  uttering  his  message  of  judgment  till  he 
can  no  longer  contain  himself  and  becomes  weary  with 
holding  in  (vi.  11).  He  addresses  Jerusalem  as  the  daugh- 
ter r^f  his  people,  and  bids  her  gird  herself  with  sackcloth 
and  sit  in  ashes,  mourning  as  for  an  only  son  (vi.  23).  He 
asks  how  he  may  comfort  himself  against  sorrow,  because 
his  heart  faints  within  him  (viii.  18).  He  wishes  that  his 
head  were  waters,  and  his  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  he 
might  weep  day  and  nighl  for  the  slain  of  the  daughter  of 
his  people  (ix.  i).  He  wanders  alone  over  the  mountains, 
weeping  and  wailing  because  the  pasture-lands  are  dry,  be. 
cause  the  lowing  of  the  cattle  and  the  song  of  the  bird  are 
hushed  (ix.  10).  "  Woe  is  me ! "  he  exclaims ;  "  my  wound 
is  grievous." 

He  had  no  alternative  than  to  announce  the  judgments 
which  he  saw  upon  their  way ;  but  there  was  a  sob  in  the 
voice  that  predicted  them.  So  far  from  desiring  the  evil 
day,  very  gladly  would  he  have  laid  down  his  life  to  avert 
it.  The  chalice  of  his  life  was  full  of  that  spirit  which  led 
the  Master  in  after-years  to  weep  as  he  beheld  the  guilty 
and  doomed  city.  Many  a  great  preacher  of  repentance, 
in  all  the  centuries  of  church  history,  has  known  something 
of  this  bewailing.  Side  by  side  with  vehement  denuncia- 
tions of  coming  judgment  there  has  been  the  pitiful  yearn- 
ing over  lost  men. 

We  need  more  of  this.  Nothing  is  so  terrible  as  to  utter 
God's  threatenings  against  sin,  which  are  predictions  of  its 
natural  and  inevitable  outworking,  with  no  sign  of  anguish 


THE  SECOND  DISCOURSE 


^ 


or  regret.  If  we  are  called  to  speak  of  judgment  to  come> 
it  should  be  after  hours  of  solitary  prayer,  weeping,  and 
soul  travail.  It  is  only  in  proportion  as  we  have  felt  for 
sinners  that  we  can  warn  them.  It  is  only  in  so  far  as  we 
have  known  the  Saviour's  pity  that  we  can  dare  to  take  up 
the  woes  he  pronounced  against  Pharisee  and  Sadducee,  or 
threaten  the  fate  which  he  so  clearly  and  awfully  denounced. 
Our  mistake  is  in  dealing  with  generals  and  not  with 
particulars ;  or  in  using  terms  which  have  passed  from  hand 
to  hand,  until  their  inscription  is  worn  away.  We  have 
not  realized  the  loss  of  one  soul,  or  the  unutterable  woe  of 
hell  for  one  apostate,  or  the  meaning  of  the  undying  worm 
and  the  unquenched  flame.  And  probably  the  best  way 
of  entering  into  the  meaning  of  any  of  these  terrible  con- 
ceptions is  to  try  and  realize  what  they  would  mean  for 
any  one  soul  who  was  dear  to  us  as  life.  Then  from  the 
one  we  may  pass  to  the  many ;  from  the  one  lost  soul  we 
may  understand  the  meaning  of  a  lost  world.  Let  us  look 
at  these  things  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Saviour,  or  of  a 
parent's  love,  or  of  the  soul  itself ;  and  when  thoughts  have 
saturated  our  hearts  of  the  dishonor  done  to  God,  the  loss 
sustained  by  Christ,  the  anguish  wrought  into  the  texture 
of  one  disobedient  life,  we  shall  be  able  to  speak  to  men 
of  the  judgment  to  come,  with  streaming  tears,  tremulous 
voice,  and  breaking  heart.  Such  preaching  will  always  be 
a  convincing  and  irresistible  argument  to  turn  sinners  from 
the  error  of  their  ways.  Nothing  is  more  awful  than  to 
speak  of  the  great  mysteries  of  life  and  death,  of  heaven 
and  hell,  of  the  right  and  left  of  the  Throne,  without  that 
compassion  of  heart  which  is  borrowed  from  close  com- 
munion with  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

III.  His  Assertion  of  Redeeming  Grace. — Few  of 
the  sacred  writers  have  had  truer  or  deeper  views  of  the 


40 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


love  of  God.  It  is  to  the  earlier  chapters  of  Jeremiah  that 
backsliders  must  always  turn  for  comfort  and  assurance  of 
abundant  pardon.  The  word  backslide  is  characteristic  of 
tlus  prophet. 

Tc  JeremiaKs  thought  sin  could  not  quench  God's  love.  It 
may  come  in  between  man  and  wife,  severing  the  marriage 
tie  and  leaving  the  husband  to  divorce  her  whom  he  had 
taken  to  be  his  other  self ;  but  though  our  sin  be  more  in- 
veterate and  repeated  than  woman  ever  perpetrated  against 
maU;  or  man  against  woman,  it  cannot  cut  off  that  love 
which  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting.  The  clouds  may 
dim,  but  they  cannot  extinguish,  the  sun.  Sin  may  hide 
the  manifestation  of  the  love  of  God,  but  can  never  make 
God  abandon  his  love  to  us  (Jer.  iii.  i). 

The  love  of  God  goes  forth  in  forgiving  mercy.  He  only 
asks  that  the  people  should  acknowledge  their  iniquity  and 
confess  to  having  perverted  their  way  and  forgotten  their 
God.  It  were  enough  that  they  should  accept  the  terms 
of  the  confession  which  he  himself  suggested :  "  Behold,  we 
come  unto  thee,  for  thou  art  the  Lord  Our  God ;  "  and  he 
assures  them  that  though  their  sin  and  iniquity  were  sought 
for  there  shouM  be  none  found  (iii.  22). 

The  love  of  God  does  not  deal  with  us  after  our  sins.  He 
gives  showers  immediately  on  repentance.  He  does  not 
keep  his  anger  forever.  He  intervenes  between  us  and 
trouble,  as  the  soft  sand  between  the  homes  of  men  and 
the  yeasty,  foaming  ocean.  He  waits  to  receive  us  back, 
saying,  "  If  thou  wilt  return,  O  Israel,  unto  me,  thou  shalt 
return."  Ours  may  be  the  pleasant  land ;  ours  the  goodly 
heritage ;  ours  the  rest  for  the  soul — all  of  which  we  have 
forfeited,  but  all  of  which  are  restored  to  us  when  we 
retm-n. 

What  true  and  delightful  conceptions  of  the  love  of  God 
were  vouchsafed  to  the  young  prophet  I     Many  similarities 


!  \ 


\^ 


\ 


r 


THE  SECOND  DISCOURSE 


41 


between  his  expressions  and  those  of  Deuteronomy  suggest 
that  it  was  his  favorite  book,  as,  if  we  may  venture  to  say 
so,  it  was  our  Lord's ;  and  perhaps  it  was  from  that  ancient 
writing,  then  newly  discovered,  that  he  derived  his  inspira- 
tion. But,  in  any  case,  his  living  spirit  had  drunk  deep 
drafts  of  the  everlasting,  forgiving,  pitiful  love  of  God, 
revealed  and  given  to  men  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Oh, 
blessed  love  !  —through  which  backsliding  hearts  may  be 
admitted  again  to  the  inner  circle,  and  have  restored  the 
years  that  the  canker-worm  has  eaten. 


I 


V. 

(Jeremiah  vii.-x.) 

"  Bewildered  in  its  search,  bewildered  with  the  cry, 

*Lo  here,  lo  there,  the  Church!'  poor  sad  humanity 

Through  all  the  dust  and  heat  turns  back,  with  bleeding  feet. 

By  the  weary  road  it  came,  \ 

Unto  the  simple  thought,  by  the  Great  Master  taught, 

And  that  remaineth  still : 

Not  he  that  repeateth  the  Name^ 

But  he  that  doeth  the  will." 

Longfellow. 

WE  must  read  the  records  givexi  in  the  Books  of  the 
Kings  and  Chronicles  to  understand  the  remark- 
able movement  which  was  on  foot  during  the  time  covered 
by  the  first  twelve  chapters  of  the  Book  of  Jeremiah.  In 
his  collected  words  he  scarcely  refers  to  the  great  reforms 
being  introduced  by  his  friend  the  King  Josiah ;  and  he  is 
scarcely  mentioned  in  the  historical  records.  But  there  is 
no  doubt  that  he  was  in  constant  and  close  communication 
with  the  king  and  the  little  group  of  earnest  reformers  that 
clustered  round  his  person,  and  which  mcluded  Shaphan, 
Hilkiah,  the  prophet  Zephaniah,  the  prophetess  Huldah, 
and  his  own  friend  Baruch. 

Josiah  promoted  measures  of  reform  from  the  earliest 
years  of  his  reign ;  but  at  first  he  was  opposed  by  the  dead- 
weight of  national  apathy  to  the  cause  he  espoused.    The 

42 


AT  THE  TEMPLE  GATES 


43 


worship  of  idols — for  which  there  are  twenty  different 
terms  in  the  Hebrew  language — had  so  many  fascinations 
from  the  use  of  the  peoples  around,  and  from  its  appeals  to 
sensual  passion,  that  the  mass  of  the  people  had  no  desire 
to  revert  to  the  more  austere  and  purer  worship  of  their 
forefathers.  Besides,  had  not  Solomon  the  magnificent, 
four  hundred  years  before,  erected  on  the  southern  slopes 
of  Olivet  shrines  to  Ashtoreth,  the  goddess  of  Sidon,  to 
Chemosh  and  Milcom,  the  national  gods  of  Moab  and 
Ammon  ?  The  rites  of  heathen  superstition  were  also 
maintained  by  a  vast  herd  of  false  prophets  and  priests, 
who,  like  parasites,  throve  in  the  corruption  of  their  time. 
There  was  a  fatal  compact  and  collusion  between  the  two 
bodies  which  boded  no  good  for  the  efforts  of  the  zealous 
band  of  reformers  who  gathered  round  the  king,  because 
they  appeared  to  give  a  divine  sanction  to  the  abomina- 
tions that  were  being  perpetrated.  A  wondenul  and  hor- 
rible thing  had  come  to  pass  in  the  land:  the  prophets 
prophesied  falsely,  and  the  priests  bare  rule  by  their  means, 
and  the  people  loved  to  have  it  so. 

The  cooperation  of  Zephaniah  and  Jeremiah  was,  there- 
fore, exceedingly  valuable.  While  Josiah  wrought  from 
without,  pursuing  a  career  of  uncompromising  iconoclasm, 
they  wrought  from  within,  appealing  to  the  conscience  and 
heart — here  pleading  the  claims  of  Jehovah  on  the  thought- 
less crowds;  there  taunting  the  idol- worshipers  with  the 
futility  of  their  reliance  on  the  creations  of  their  fancy ; 
and  again  announcing  the  swift  descent  of  national  judg- 
ment on  the  national  sins  which  were  desolating  the 
country. 

But,  notwithstanding  their  united  efforts,  the  cause  of 
reform  moved  slowly,  or  might  even  have  come  to  a  stand- 
still— as  an  express-train  when  buried  in  an  avalanche  of 
soft  snow — ^had  not  the  discovery  made  in  the  eighteenth 


44 


jeremij4h,  triest  and  trophet 


year  of  Josiah's  reign  given  a  new  and  unexpected  im- 
petus to  the  ancient  religion  of  Israel.  And  though  it  is 
not  exactly  an  incident  in  the  life  of  Jeremiah,  he  was  so 
closely  associated  with  the  men  who  were  principally  con- 
cerned, and  his  third  discourse  is  so  evidently  suggested 
by  the  reforms  to  which  it  led,  that  we  must  briefly  touch 
on  it. 

I.  The  Finding  of  the  Law. — ^At  the  time  to  which 
this  incident  must  be  referred,  the  Temple  was  under  re- 
pair. It  sadly  needed  it,  for  the  lewd  emblems  of  idolatry 
had  been  erected  within  its  sacred  precincts,  and  beside 
them  the  dwellings  of  the  wretched  men  and  women  asso- 
ciated with  the  impious  rites  permitted  on  the  site  where 
David  worshiped  and  Solomon  spread  his  hands  in  sol- 
emn dedicatory  prayer.  Probably,  also,  the  fabric  was 
showing  signs  of  dilapidation  and  age,  for  two  and  a  half 
centuries  had  elapsed  since  it  had  been  completely  restored 
by  Joash. 

The  work  was  intrusted  to  the  superintendence  of  Hil- 
kiah,  the  high  priest,  who  was  assisted  by  a  little  group  of 
Levites,  and  the  cost  was  contributed  by  the  people  who 
passed  through  the  Temple  gates.  On  one  occasion  the 
king  sent  Shaphan,  his  secretary  and  chancellor,  who  was 
the  father  of  Gemariah  and  a  good  man — who  afterward 
defended  Jeremiah  (Jer.  xxxvi.  10-19,  25) — to  take  an  ac- 
count with  Hilkiah  of  the  money  which  had  been  gathered 
by  the  doorkeepers.  When  they  had  attended  to  this  im- 
portant business,  and  delivered  the  money  into  the  hands 
of  the  workmen  that  had  the  oversight  of  the  work,  Hil- 
kiah, the  high  priest,  said  unto  Shaphan,  the  scribe,  "I 
have  found  the  Book  of  the  Law  in  the  house  of  the  Lord." 

It  was  a  very  startling  discovery.  The  rabbinical  tradi- 
tion states  that  it  was  discovered  inside  a  heap  of  stones, 


j4T  the  temple  gates 


45 


cted  im- 
igh  it  is 
e  was  so 
illy  con- 
iggested 
ly  touch 


>  which 
ider  re- 
idolatry 
i  beside 
en  asso- 
e  where 

in  sol- 
ric  was 

a  half 
estored 

of  Hil- 
oup  of 
e  who 
on  the 
10  was 
rward 
an  ac- 
thered 
lis  im- 
hands 
,  Hil- 


e. 


tt 


.ord." 
tradi- 
ones, 


where  it  was  hidden  when  Ahaz  destroyed  all  the  other 
copies  of  the  holy  books.  Or  it  may  have  been  hidden 
away  in  the  ark,  which  Ahaz  may  have  removed  to  one 
of  the  rooms  of  the  Temple,  where  dust  and  lumber  con- 
cealed it.  There  has  been  much  discussion  as  to  what 
that  roll  of  ancient  MSS.  contained,  some  holding  that  it 
was  the  entire  Pentateuch,  others  that  it  was  the  Book  of 
Deuteronomy.  It  has  even  been  asserted  by  some  that  a 
pious  fraud  was  perpetrated  on  Josiah  and  his  times  by 
some  well-meaning  individual,  who  had  just  written  the 
Book  of  Deuteronomy  with  his  own  hand,  and  now  foisted 
it  on  Hilkiah  and  the  rest  as  a  venerable  production  dat- 
ing from  the  days  of  Moses!  To  what  miserable  straits 
they  are  reduced  who  would  have  us  accept  such  wanton 
speculations  !  Let  the  critics  betake  themselves  to  the 
examination  of  the  ancient  MSS.,  if  they  will.  We  thank 
them  for  the  facts  they  bring  to  light ;  in  their  own  prov- 
ince we  give  them  credit  for  painstaking  and  erudition,  but 
we  refuse  to  accept  their  theories.  Let  them  give  us  the 
facts,  and  we  can  formulate  the  theories  for  ourselves. 
Even  if  it  could  be  shown — which  we  hold  it  cannot — that 
Moses  was  not  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy,  it 
is  surely  utterly  inconceivable  that  the  mind  through  which 
that  sublime  treatise  was  given  to  the  world  could  have 
been  a  party  to  a  fraud  so  unblushing  and  scandalous  as 
to  palm  off  its  own  offspring  under  the  august  sanction  of 
the  name  of  Moses  ! 

After  careful  thought,  we  are  disposed  to  think  that  the 
Book  of  Deuteronomy  is  specially  referred  to  here,  though 
not  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other  books  of  Moses.  It  seems 
unquestionable  that  this  portion  alone  of  the  Pentateuch 
was  ordained  to  be  written  out  by  each  king  on  his  acces- 
sion, and  was  read  before  the  assembled  congregation  once 
in  each  seven  years.    The  terms  of  the  covenant  made 


4« 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TR0PHB7 


afteiivard  by  Josiah  and  his  peoph  are  precisely  those  with 
which  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy  abounds ;  and  the  phrases 
which  characterize  it  are  perpetually  recurring  in  the  ad- 
dresses and  appeals  of  Jeremiah.  This  book  dyed  his 
speech,  as  it  had  done  that  of  Amos,  Rosea,  Isaiah,  and 
Micah. 

Its  discovery  by  Hilkiah  made  as  great  a  sensation  as 
that  of  the  Latin  Bible  by  Luther  in  the  library  of  the  old 
Augustinian  monastery  at  Erfurt.  Shaphan  read  parts  of 
it  before  the  king,  among  them  probably  chapter  xxviii. 
"  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  king  had  heard  the  words 
of  the  Book  of  the  Law,  that  he  rent  his  clothes."  In  hot 
haste  he  sent  a  deputation  of  his  most  trusty  friends  to  one 
of  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  where  the  prophetess  Huldah 
dwelt.  Jeremiah  may  have  been  at  this  time  at  Anathoth, 
or  he  may  have  been  too  young  in  his  work  to  be  recog- 
nized '^£.  an  authority  in  so  grave  a  crisis.  The  question 
to  be  asked  was,  whether  the  nation  must  expect  to  suffer 
all  the  awful  curses  which  those  words  predicted,  and  the 
answer  was  an  uncompromising  "  Yes,'.'  though  their  inflic- 
tion might  be  for  a  brief  space  postponed. 

Forthwith  the  king  summoned  a  mighty  convocation  of 
all  the  men  of  Judah  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem, 
and  the  priests  and  the  prophets,  and  all  the  people,  both 
small  and  great,  and,  from  a  platform  erected  in  the  en- 
trance of  the  inner  court,  he  read  aloud  all  the  words  of 
the  book  of  the  covenant  which  had  been  found  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord.  And  further,  he  solemnly  renewed  the 
covenant  between  Jehovah  and  the  people,  that  they  would 
walk  after  the  Lord,  and  keep  his  commandments,  his  tes- 
timonies, and  his  statutes.  Perhaps,  as  one  commentator 
suggests,  an  ox  was  slain,  and  the  king  and  people  passed 
between  the  severed  halves  in  witness  of  their  t  olemn  resolve. 

Then  the  work  of  reform  broke  out  afresh.     The  tide  of 


AT  THE  TEMPLE  GATES 


47 


popular  feeling  rose  high,  and  the  reformers  took  it  at  its 
flow.  The  black-robed  priests  were  suppressed ;  the  em- 
blems of  idolatry  were  cast  out  of  the  Temple,  and  burned 
without  the  city ;  the  dwellings  of  the  miserable  votaries 
of  lust  were  destroyed,  Tophet  was  defiled,  and  the  high 
places  leveled  to  the  ground.  Thus,  outwardly  at  least, 
Israel  became  again  true  to  its  allegiance  to  the  God  of 
its  fathers,  and  free  from  the  taint  of  idolatry. 


II.  The  Divorce  between  Religion  and  Morality. 
— ^The  influence  of  the  court,  the  finding  and  reading  of 
the  law,  the  splendid  success  of  the  great  Passover  which 
Josiah  instituted,  the  glow  of  the  crusade  against  the  old 
idolatries,  sufficed  for  a  time  to  effect  widespread  reform, 
and  the  fickle  populace  gave  an  outward  adhesion  at  least 
to  the  service  of  Jehovah.  The  Temple  courts  were 
thronged ;  the  rites  and  forms  of  the  Levitical  code  were 
rigorously  maintained ;  every  point  of  ceremonial  allegiance 
to  the  institutions  of  Moses  was  punctiliously  observed. 
But  there  was  no  real  change  in  disposition.  The  refor- 
mation was  entirely  superficial.  Beneath  the  fair  exterior 
the  grossest  forms  of  evil  were  seething  in  hideous  cor- 
ruption, now  and  again  breaking  forth  into  the  light  of 
day,  but  awaiting  the  death  of  Josiah,  when  they  once 
more  asserted  themselves. 

i  Jeremiah  was  profoundly  disappointed  at  the  result  of  a 
movement  which  had  promised  so  we"..  He  detected  its 
true  character,  and  soujht  an  opportunity  of  showing  its 
insufficiency  to  avert  the  wrath  of  God,|which  was  gather- 
ing like  a  thunder-cloud  upon  the  horizbn.  /Taking  up  his 
position  in  the  gate  of  the  Temple,  on  the  occasion  of  some 
great  festival  when  the  people  of  Judah  were  gathered  with 
the  citizens  of  Jerusalem  to  worship  Jehovah,  he  poured 
forth  a  torrent  of  remonstrance  and  appeal  / 


4« 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


■-  t; 


He  was  not  unaware  of  the  attention  paid  by  the  nation 
to  outward  ritual,  which  they  mistook  for  religion.  The 
incense  of  Sheba,  and  the  costly,  fine-scented  cane  fetched 
from  Arabia  or  India,  burned  for  the  sake  of  their  rich  per- 
fume, stole  through  the  Temple  precincts  (vi.  20).  They 
took  care  to  speak  of  the  Temple  as  the  house  of  God, 
and  to  stand  before  him  as  his  people  (vii.  10).  The  burnt- 
offering  and  other  sacrifices  were  rigorously  distinguished 
from  one  another,  the  priests  and  people  feeding  on  those 
parts  alone  permitted  by  the  Mosaic  ritual  (vii.  21).  It 
was  the  boast  of  the  people  that  the  law  of  the  Lord  had 
been  committed  to  their  charge,  and  that  chey  had  therefore 
special  claim  upon  his  forbearance  (viii.  8).  And  against 
every  accusation  which  the  prophet  laid  at  the  nation's 
door,  they  pointed  to  the  order  and  beauty  of  the  restored 
ritual,  of  their  splendid  Temple,  of  their  privileged  condi- 
tion as  the  chosen  people  of  God,  and  cried,  "  The  Tem- 
ple of  the  Lord,  The  Temple  of  the  Lord,  The  Temple  of 
the  Lord,  are  these." 

But  alongside  of  this  outward  decorum  the  grossest  sins 
were  permitted  with  unblushing  shame.  fOne  of  the  charges 
which  Jeremiah  brings  against  his  people  is,  that  they  had 
lost  the  power  of  blushing  (vpi.  12).  The  shamefulness  of 
their  sin  was  apparent  m  their  shamelessnessj  They  op- 
pressed the  stranger,  the  fatherless,  and  thewidow.  Theft, 
murder,  and  adultery  showed  themselves  in  open  day.  So 
frequent  and  atrocious  were  their  crimes  of  violence,  that 
they  seemed  transformed  into  a  horde  of  robbers — the 
Temple  their  den ;  lies  flew  from  their  tongues  like  arrows 
from  a  bow;  and  while  men  spake  peaceably  to  their 
neighbors  in  their  ears,  they  were  lying  in  wait  to  betray 
them.  Though  idolatry  had  been  overthrown  in  the  high 
places  of  the  land,  it  lingered  in  the  houses  of  the  great, 
who  squandered  their  silver  and  their  gold,  their  blue  and 


/IT  THE  TEMPLE  GATES 


49 


their  purple,  on  the  wood  which  they  had  shaped  into  the 
fashion  of  a  god^ 

There  was  an  evident  divorce  between  /ehgic  and 
morals ;  and  whenever  that  comes  into  the  life  of  a  nation 
or  an  individual,  it  is  fatal.  Satan  himself  has  no  objec- 
tion to  a  religion  which  consists  in  postures  and  cere- 
monies and  rites.  Indeed,  he  fosters  it,  for  the  soul  of 
man  demands  God  and  craves  religion ;  and  it  is  the  art 
of  the  great  enemy  of  souls  to  substitute  the  counterfeit  for 
the  reality,  to  quiet  the  religious  appetite  with  the  shows 
and  efHgies  of  the  eternal  and  divine — much  as  a  man 
might  satisfy  his  hunger  with  food  that  lacked  the  elements 
of  nutrition,  while  his  strength  and  vigor  were  slowly  ebb- 
ing away.  It  can  never  be  too  strongly  emphasized  that 
the  soul  of  man  cannot  rest  or  be  content  without  God ; 
but  it  is  too  apt  to  be  cajoled  with  that  which  is  not  bread, 
and  which  satisfieth  not. 


III.  The  Excuses  beneath  which  the  Soul  of  Man 
Shelters  Itself. — (i)  Ritualism. — It  was  the  old  belief 
that  God  was  bound  to  help  a  nation  or  person  that  stead- 
fastly complied  with  the  outward  forms  of  religion,  as  if 
he  had  no  other  alternative  than  to  help  his  devoted  wor- 
shiper. In  one  form  or  another  this  conception  has  ap- 
peared in  every  nation  and  age.  "  What  more  can  God 
want,"  the  heathen  cries,  "  than  that  I  should  give  bumt- 
ofTerings,  and  calves  of  a  year  old ;  thousands  of  rams,  and 
ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil ;  my  iirst-bom  for  my  trans- 
gression, the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my  soul  ?  " 
"  What  more  can  God  want  ?  "  cries  the  formalist  of  our 
time.  "  I  was  received  into  the  visible  church  as  soon  as 
I  was  bom ;  I  have  complied  with  all  her  regulations ;  I 
do  my  best  to  maintain  her  institutions  and  services ;  in  all 
weathers  I  am  present  when  her  doors  are  open ;  and  there 


50 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


is  no  demand  made  by  her  representatives  to  which  I  do  not 
comply  to  the  best  of  my  ability.     What  lack  I  yet  ?  " 

The  incessant  remonstrance  of  the  Bible  is  against  such 
protestations — whether  expressed  or  understood — as  these. 
"  What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,"  says  Micah,  "  but 
to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with 
thy  God  ?  "  (Micah  vi.  8).  "  To  what  purpose  is  the  multi- 
tude of  your  sacrifices  unto  me  ?  saith  the  Lord,"  is  one 
of  Isaiah's  earliest  sentences,  and  he  added,  still  speaking 
in  the  name  of  God,  "  Incense  is  an  ab  >mination  to  me." 
And  here  Jeremiah  takes  up  the  same  strain.  He  says  in 
effect :  "  Put  all  your  offerings  together ;  aboi;  ^h  the  sacer- 
dotal distinctions  which  Moses  bade  you  observe;  relin- 
quish all  ritual ;  end  festival  and  fast  alike."  These  things 
are  comparatively  indifferent  to  God,  when  substituted  for 
obedience  and  a  holy  walk  (vii.  22). 

Where  the  heart  is  right  with  God  it  will  find  fit  and 
proper  expression  in  the  well-ordered  worship  of  the  sanc- 
tuary. It  will  find  the  outward  ordinance  a  means  of 
quickening  the  soul  by  the  laws  of.  association  and  expres- 
sion ;  but  the  outward  can  never  be  a  substitute  for  the  in- 
ward. The  soul  must  know  God,  and  worship  him  as  a 
spirit.  There  must  be  faith,  repentance,  inward  grace. 
"  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him  must  wor- 
ship him  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  Throughout  the  ages 
he  has  been  seeking  such  to  worship  him. 

(2)  Destiny. — Men  often  say,  as  the  Jews  did,  "  We  are 
delivered  to  do  all  these  abominations ;  we  were  made  so ; 
we  are  swept  forward  by  an  irresistible  current  which  we 
cannot  control"  (vii.  10).  How  many  a  man  lays  the 
blame  of  his  sin  upon  his  Creator,  alleging  that  it  is  only  the 
outworking  of  the  natural  tendencies  with  which  he  was 
endowed  I  How  many  a  woman  has  laid  the  blame  of 
her  unutterable  fall  upon  the  force  of  circumstances,  which 


/IT  THE  TEMPLE  GATES 


5» 


held  her  in  their  grip  1  And  there  are  some  religious  fatal- 
ists who  have  gone  so  far  as  to  trace  their  sins  to  the  elec- 
tive decrees  of  the  Almighty !  Whatever  truth  there  may 
be  in  the  doctrine  of  predestination,  it  will  not  absolve 
you  from  sin  in  the  sight  of  God  and  his  angels.  There 
is  more  than  enough  grace  in  God  to  counteract  the  drift 
of  the  current  and  the  strength  of  passion. 

(3)  Special  Privilege. — Many  a  soul  has  presumed  on 
being  a  favorite  of  Heaven.  "  I  am  wise ;  the  law  of  the 
Lord  is  with  me.  He  needs  me  for  the  preservation  of 
his  truth,  the  elaboration  of  his  scheme.  His  cause  is  too 
deeply  involved  with  me  for  him  to  allow  me  to  be  a  cast- 
away. I  may  do  as  I  will,  he  will  deliver."  Ah,  soul,  be- 
ware !  thou  art  not  indispensable  to  God.  Before  thou 
wert  he  was  well  served  and  if  thou  fail  him  he  will 
call  others  to  minister  to  him.  See  what  he  did  to  Shiloh 
(vii.  14)  and  to  Jerusalem.  How  bare  the  site ;  how  woful 
the  overthrow !  "  If  God  spared  not  the  natural  branches, 
take  heed  lest  he  also  spare  not  thee  ! "  Take  heed  lest 
the  kingdom  of  God  be  taken  from  you,  and  be  given  to 
a  nation  bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof. 


VI. 

(Jeremiah  xi.  5.) 

"  Whatso  it  be,  howso  it  be,  Amen! 
Blessed  it  is,  believing,  not  to  see. 
Now  God  knows  all  that  is,  and  we  shall  then, 

Whatso  it  be. 
God's  will  is  best  for  man,  whose  will  is  free ;  ' 

God's  will  is  better  for  us,  yea,  than  ten 
Desires  whereof  he  holds  and  weighs  the  key." 

Christina  Rossetti. 

THE  words  of  the  prophet  in  chapter  xi.,  verse  5  are  full 
of  deep  significance  to  every  holy  soul  summoned  to 
stand  between  God  and  other  men.  They  have  also  far- 
reaching  meaning  for  all  who  are  passing  through  the  divine 
discipline  in  this  strange  and  difficult  life.  Jeremiah  was 
conscious  of  the  special  current  of  divine  energy  which 
was  passing  into  and  through  his  soul.  The  word  had 
come  to  him  "from  the  Lord."  This  is  one  of  three  forms 
of  expression  that  he  employs.  Sometimes,  "  the  word  of 
the  Lord  that  came  to  Jeremiah ;  "  sometimes,  "  thus  saith 
the  Lord ;  "  sometimes,  as  here,  "  the  word  that  came  to 
Jeremiah  from  the  Lord."  Probably  he  felt  that  word  as 
a  burning  fire  shut  up  in  his  bones,  which  he  could  not  con- 
tain. He  must  needs  give  vent  to  it;  but  when  it  has 
passed  his  lips,  and  he  has  time  carefully  to  consider  it,  he 
answers  the  divine  message  by  saying,  "  Amen,  O  Lord  I " 


THE  SOUL'S  "AMEN" 


S3 


There  is  something  very  sublime  in  this  attitude.  Jere- 
miah, as  we  have  seen,  was  naturally  gentle,  yielding,  and 
pitiful  for  the  sins  and  sorrows  of  his  people.  Nothing  was 
further  from  his  heart  than  to  "  desire  the  evil  day."  In 
these  earlier  stages  of  his  ministry  especially,  it  must  have 
been  one  long  effort  to  stand  by  himself  against  the  strong 
current  of  popular  feeling  and  patriotism  which  colored  the 
visions  of  the  false  prophets.  And  yet,  as  he  utters  the 
terrible  curses  and  threatenings  of  divine  justice,  and  pre- 
dicts the  inevitable  fate  of  his  people,  he  is  so  possessed 
with  the  sense  of  the  divine  rectitude,  so  sure  that  God 
could  not  do  differently,  so  convinced  that,  judged  by  the 
loftiest  moral  standards,  the  sins  of  Israel  could  not  be 
otherwise  dealt  with,  that  his  soul  rises  up,  and  though  he 
must  pronounce  the  doom  of  Israel,  he  is  forced  to  answer 
and  say,  "  Amen,  O  Lord  ! " 

There  is  something  like  this  in  the  history  of  the  re- 
deemed Church.  When  God  has  judged  her  that  did  cor- 
rupt the  world  with  her  fornication,  and  has  avenged  the 
blood  of  his  servants  at  her  hand,  as  the  smoke  of  her  de- 
struction arises,  the  blessed  spirits  who  had  been  learning 
the  deepest  lessons  of  divine  love,  at  the  very  soiurce  and 
fount  of  love,  are  heard  crying,  "  Amen ;  Halleluiah  ! " 

In  each  of  these  cases  it  is  extremely  interesting  to  see 
how  the  sense  of  justly  deserved  and  righteously  incurred 
judgment  corrects  the  verdict  of  mere  compassionateness, 
and  enables  the  most  sensitive  and  gentle  souls  to  acqui- 
esce in  what  otherwise  had  been  resisted  to  the  uttermost. 

Beside  these  two  instances  we  may  place  a  third,  in 
which  our  Lord,  in  the  same  breath  as  he  appealed  to  the 
weary  and  heavy-laden  to  come  to  him,  spoke  of  the  mys- 
teries which  were  hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  but 
revealed  to  babes,  and  said, "  Yea,  Father,  for  so  it  was  well- 
pleasing  in  thy  sight."     "  Yea  "  is  close  akin  to  "  Amen." 


54 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


"How  many  soever  be  the  promises  of  God,  in  him  is  the 
Yea :  wherefore  also  through  him  is  the  Amen,  mito  the 
glory  of  God  through  us  "  (Matt.  xi.  26 ;  2  Cor.  i.  20,  r.v.). 

I.  The  Soul's  Affirmation. — (i)  In  Providence. — ^We 
often  seem  to  be  traveling  through  a  difficult  piece  of  moun- 
tainous country  in  company  with  a  strong,  wise,  and  gentle 
companion,  who  has  undertaken  to  guide  us  to  our  des- 
tination. There  are  foaming  torrents,  black  and  hurrying, 
which  we  have  to  ford  at  the  imminent  risk  of  being  carried 
off  our  feet ;  there  are  darksome  woods  and  forests,  where 
suns  have  seldom  penetrated,  and  where  wild  beasts  have 
their  lair ;  there  ar?  paths  paved  with  flints  so  sharp,  and 
slabs  of  rock  so  slippery,  that  progress  seems  impossible, 
except  at  too  great  a  cost;  there  are  long  stretches  of 
dreary  desert,  where  the  glare  blinds,  the  sunbeams  cut  like 
swords,  and  the  shadow  of  l,  tiny  retem-bush  provides  a 
grateful  relief;  there  are  steep  hills  and  paths  so  narrow 
that  there  is  hardly  room  to  pass  along  the  ledge  of  rock, 
while  the  dark  precipice  waits  to  engulf.  In  earlier  days 
the  soul  started  back  horror-stricken;  in  later  ones  we 
pleaded  for  an  easier,  pleasanter  path,  and  envied  the  lot 
of  others ;  but  now  our  life  has  become  cne  lonp;  and  deep 
and  constantly  repeated  "  Amen "  to  the  choice  of  Him 
who  goes  beside  us,  and  in  whose  mind  each  iitep  has  been 
previously  conceived. 

Let  us  guard  against  mistake.  It  is  not  possible  at 
first  to  say  "  Amen "  in  tones  of  triumph  and  ecstasy. 
Nay,  the  word  is  often  choked  with  sobs  that  cannot  be 
stifled,  and  soaked  with  tears  that  cannot  be  repressed.  So 
it  was  with  Abraham,  when  he  tore  himself  from  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees,  and  waited  weary  years  for  his  son,  and  climbed 
with  aching  heart  the  steep  of  Moriah.  And  as  these 
words  are  read  by  those  who  lie  year  after  year  on  beds  of 


im  is  the 
unto  the 

20,  R.V.). 

ice. — We 
)f  moun- 
id  gentle 
our  des- 
lurrying, 
^carried 
s,  where 
sts  have 
arp,  and 
possible, 
tches  of 

cut  like 
avides  a 

narrow 
of  rock, 
er  days 
)nes  we 

the  lot 
id  deep 
of  Him 
as  been 

sible  at 
ecstasy, 
inot  be 
;d.  So 
•  of  the 
limbed 
\  these 
}eds  of 


THE  SOUL'S  "AMEN*' 


55 


constant  pain ;  or  by  those  who  have  lost  the  enjoyment  of 
the  presence  of  their  twin  soul ;  or  by  those  whose  earthly  life 
is  tossed  upon  the  sea  of  anxiety,  over  which  billows  of  care 
and  turmoil  perpetually  roll,  it  is  not  improbable  that  they 
will  protest  as  to  the  possibility  of  saying  "  Amen  "  to  God's 
providential  dealings,  or  they  will  ask,  Of  what  avail  is  it 
to  utter  with  the  lip  a  word  against  which  the  whole  heart 
stands  up  in  revolt?  Is  it  not,  it  may  be  asked,  an  im- 
piety, a  hypocrisy,  to  say  with  the  mouth  a  word  that  is  so 
alien  to  the  sentiments  of  the  heart  ? 

In  reply,  let  all  such  remember  that  in  the  garden  our 
blessed  Lord  was  conter:  to  put  his  will  upon  the  side  of 
God.  What  though  his  body  were  covered  with  the  dew 
of  anguish,  pressed  out  from  it  as  the  jmce  of  the  grape 
by  the  tread  of  the  husbandman!  He  did  not  chide  him- 
self. He  knew  it  was  enough  if,  in  the  lower  parts  of  the 
earth  to  which  his  human  nature  had  descended,  he  was 
able  unflinchingly  to  affirm,  "  I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O 
my  God ;  "  "  Not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt." 

Dare  to  say  "Amen"  to  God's  providential  dealings. 
Say  it  though  heart  and  flesh  fail ;  say  it  amid  a  storm  of 
tumultuous  feeling  and  a  rain  of  tears;  say  it  though  it 
shall  seem  to  be  the  last  word  that  shall  be  spoken  because 
life  is  ebbing  so  fast  *.  and  you  will  find  that  if  the  will 
doth  acquiesce,  the  heart  comes  ultimately  to  choose ;  and 
as  days  pass,  some  incident,  some  turn  in  the  road,  some 
coniurrence  of  unforeseen  circumstances,  will  suddenly  flash 
the  conviction  on  the  mind  and  reason  that  God's  way  was 
right,  the  wisest  and  the  best.  "  Whac  thou  knowest  not 
now,  thou  shalt  know  hereafter,"  is  the  perpetual  aESurance 
of  the  Guide ;  and  this  is  realized  not  in  the  world  of  the 
hereafter  only,  but  here  and  now,  on  the  hither  side  of  the 
Gate  of  Pearl. 

{2)  In  Revelation  there  are  mysteries  which  baffle  the 


tf 


I 


56 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


dearest  thinkers,  the  most  profound  theologians,  the  Johns 
and  Pauls  of  the  Church;  paths  that  lose  themselves  in 
mere  tracks  on  the  moor;  snatches  of  music  and  color 
which  no  mortal  genius  can  work  out;  suggestions  of 
movements  in  the  spiritual  world  which  defy  the  appre- 
hension of  the  subtlest  and  greatest  of  the  sons  of  men  to 
follow.  The  man  that  tracks  God's  footsteps  loses  them 
in  the  depths;  and  the  eye  that  pursues  his  workings  is 
dazzled  by  a  light  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun ;  and 
the  argument  breaks  off  with  the  cry,  "O  the  depth  of 
the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  ! 
how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past 
finding  out ! "  It  must  be  so  while  God  is  God.  We  are 
partakers  of  his  nature,  as  a  child  is  of  his  father's ;  but 
the  distance  between  our  capacity  of  intelligence  and  the 
thoughts  of  God  is  not  measured  even  by  that  between  the 
dawn  of  a  child's  mind  and  the  full  splendor  of  his  father's 
power,  because  this  moves  in  the  region  of  the  finite,  while 
that  is  a  difference  between  the  finite  and  infinite.  We 
cannot  by  searching  find  out  God,  or  know  the  Almighty. 
There  is  no  fathoming-line  long  enough,  no  parallax  fine 
enough,  no  standard  of  mensuration,  though  the  universe 
itself  be  taken  as  our  unit,  by  which  to  measure  God. 
High  as  heaven,  what  canst  thou  do  ?  Deep  as  hell,  what 
canst  thou  know  ? 

But  though  we  cannot  comprehend,  we  may  affirm,  the 
thoughts  of  God.  That  we  cannot  understand  is  due  to 
the  immaturity  of  our  faculties.  We  are  in  our  nursery 
stage :  our  words  are  the  babblings  of  infancy ;  our  ideas 
the  thoughts  of  a  child.  But  we  can  accept,  and  admit, 
and  acquiesce  in,  and  affirm  the  things  which  eye  could 
not  see,  nor  the  heart  conceive,  but  which  are  revealed  on 
the  page  of  Scripture. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ  has 


i 


THE  SOUL'S  "AMEN" 


57 


fully  met  the  demands  of  divine  law;  and  though  some 
phases  of  his  Atonement  may  at  times  perplex  us,  yet  our 
soul  confidently  exclaims,  "Amen,  Lordl"  We  are  igno- 
rant why  God  chose  us ;  how  Christ  could  combine  in  him- 
self the  natures  of  God  and  man ;  or  in  what  manner  the 
Holy  Spirit  regenerates  the  soul.  "  How  can  these  things 
be?"  is  the  question  which  often  oc;curs  to  the  devout  stu- 
dent of  revelation.  But  when  He  who  has  come  straight 
from  the  realms  of  eternal  day  steadfastly  affirms  that 
which  he  knows,  and  bears  witness  to  what  he  has  seen, 
we  receive  his  witness  and  say  reverently,  "Amen,  Lordl" 

(3)  In  Judgment. — God's  judgments  on  the  wicked  are 
a  great  deep.  The  problems  that  encircle  the  question  of 
present  or  future  punishment  are  among  the  deepest  and 
most  awful  that  the  mind  of  man  can  approach.  Like 
Moses,  we  fear  and  quake  when  we  climb  the  storm-girt 
sides  of  Sinai,  and  hear  the  pealing,  thunderous  curse,  to 
be  followed  by  the  lightning  flash  of  fiery  indignation  de- 
vouring the  adversary.  We  may  well  turn  aside  from  such 
considerations,  and  ask  if  the  time  can  ever  come  when  we 
shall  be  able  to  consider  with  equanimity  the  awful  suffer- 
ing which  they  must  incur  who  have  rejected  the  love  of 
God  in  Christ.  Will  heaven  have  any  bliss  to  us  so  long 
as  there  is  a  hell  ?  Will  there  be  any  possibility  of  happi- 
ness while  one  sheep  is  lost,  one  link  absent  in  the  bridal 
necklet,  one  stone  deficient  from  the  regalia,  one  voice 
missing  in  the  chorus  ?  A  partial  answer  at  least  is  given 
to  these  inquiries  when  we  hear  from  the  lips  of  the  most 
gentle  of  the  prophets,  anticipating  the  destruction  of  his 
people,  for  which  his  eye  was  to  trickle  down  with  tears, 
"Amen,  Lord!" 

At  present  we  cannot  expect  to  attain  to  much  of  this 
condition  of  mind  and  heart,  because  our  views  of  the 
divine  rectitude  are  so  imperfect,  our  estimate  of  sin  is  so 


58 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


slight,  our  knowledge  of  the  conditions  of  the  universe  so 
inadequate.  Did  we  know  more  of  sin,  of  holiness,  of  the 
love  of  God,  of  the  yearning  pleadings  of  his  Spirit  with 
men,  of  the  all-sufiiciency  of  the  measure  he  has  taken  for 
their  arrest  and  salvation,  of  the  barriers  erected  to  stay 
the  precipitate  downward  course  of  thi^  wicked,  we  should 
probably  understand  better  how  Jeremiah  was  able  to  say, 
"Amen,  Lord!" 

There  is  a  striking  thought  in  Ezekiel  xiv.  22,  23,  in 
which  God  says  that  when  we  see  the  way  and  the  doings 
of  sinners  in  the  light  that  shall  be  flung  upon  their  entire 
life-course  from  the  great  white  throne,  we  shall  be  com- 
forted concerning  the  evil  that  he  shall  have  brought  upon 
them.  And  the  prophet  goes  on  to  show  that  God  will 
make  us  know  that  he  has  not  done  in  vain  anything  that 
he  shall  have  done.  That  era  has  not  yet  broken,  but  it 
is  a  wonderful  conception  of  the  comfort  and  resignation 
which  the  added  hght  of  eternity  shall  bring  into  hearts 
perplexed  and  anxious  as  they  consider  the  fate  of  the  un- 
godly. Abraham  shall  be  comforted  over  the  destruction 
of  the  cities  of  the  plain ;  Jeremiah  shall  be  comforted  as 
he  reviews  the  fate  of  Jerusalem ;  and  Paul  shall  be  com- 
forted as  he  considers  the  long  alienation  of  the  seed  of 
Abraham  from  their  land,  and  their  exile  with  wandering 
foot  and  terror-stricken  heart  in  all  the  countries  of  the 
world.  And  we  shall  be  comforted  as  we  behold  the  de- 
struction of  the  wicked. 

II.  The  Ground  of  the  Soul's  Peace. — "Yea, 
Father ! "  It  may  seem  at  first  sight  as  though  it  were 
impossible  that  the  heart  of  man  could  ever  be  induced  to 
acquiesce  in  the  terrible  and  difficult  matters  touched  upon 
in  the  previous  paragraphs.  As  long  as  mothers  love  the 
sucking  child,  and  have  compassion  on  their  sons ;  as  long 


„ 


THE  SOUL'S  "AMEN" 


59 


as  soul  is  wedded  to  soul  by  the  strongest  and  most  tena- 
cious bonds  of  human  love;  as  long  as  we  can  suffer, 
yearn,  fear,  hope,  pity ;  while  memory  keeps  the  records 
of  the  past,  and  love  reigns,  and  the  mind  holds  her  seat, 
it  might  seem  the  impossible  dream  of  the  imagination  that 
what  appears  incompatible  with  the  tender  human  feeling 
can  be  consistent  with  the  love  of  God.  "  Surely,"  you 
cry,  "  there  are  things  to  which  I  can  never  assent,  decis- 
ions I  can  never  reaffirm,  sentences  I  can  never  counter- 
sign, possibilities  to  which  I  can  never  say, '  Amen,  Lord! ' " 

But  does  not  this  protest  of  the  soul  arise  from  the  fact 
that  you  have  judged  such  things  from  the  standpoint  of 
piure  emotion,  or  human  reasoning,  or  perverted  principles 
of  human  action,  and  that  you  need  to  stand  in  the  sanc- 
tuary of  God,  which  is  the  focus  and  metropolis  to  which 
the  loftiest  intelligences  converge,  in  order  to  come  in  con- 
tact with  the  lofty  morality  and  legislation  of  eternity  ? 
And  do  we  not  wrongly  think  that  our  love  is  more  tender, 
our  sympathy  more  delicate,  our  compassions  deeper,  than 
those  of  the  Father  ? 

When  tried  and  perplexed  with  the  troubles  of  life,  turn 
from  these,  which  will  make  the  brain  dizzy  and  the  heart 
sick,  and  consider  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
from  whom  every  ray  of  love  in  the  universe  has  emanated, 
and  remember  that  nothing  can  be  permitted  or  devised 
by  him  which  is  not  consistent  with  the  gentlest  and  truest 
dealings  that  an  earthly  father  could  mete  out  to  the  child 
of  his  right  hand,  his  Benjamin,  the  darling  of  his  old  age. 
So  shall  you  be  able  to  say,  "  Amen,  Lord  ! " 

When  face  to  face  with  the  mysteries  of  the  Atonement, 
of  Substitution  and  Sacrifice,  of  Predestination  and  Elec- 
tion, of  the  unequal  distribution  of  gospel  light,  be  sure  to 
turn  to  God  as  the  Father  of  light,  in  whom  is  no  dark- 
ness, no  shadow  of  unkindness,  no  note  inconsistent  with 


I 


6o 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  ThOPHET 


I 


i 


the  music  of  perfect  benevolence.  He  u  your  Father,  the 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father  from  whom 
every  home  life  receives  \t\  tenderest  touches.  Dare  to 
trust  him,  and  in  the  strength  of  that  trust  to  say,  "  Amen; 
Lord!" 

When  peering  over  the  strong  barrier  of  redemption  that 
intervenes  between  you  and  the  dark  fate  of  the  ungodly, 
when  thoughts  will  force  themselves  upon  the  spirit,  as  the 
cry  of  the  insurgent  mob  might  penetrate  the  sacred  seclu- 
sion of  a  temple,  look  awj:y  from  this  and  gaze  into  the 
face  of  the  Father,  which  is  turned  in  the  same  direction, 
and  dare  to  believe  that  nothing  can  happen  in  heaven  or 
earth  or  hell  which  is  out  of  harmony  with  the  love  that 
has  inspired  parents  toward  leir  children,  that  breathed 
the  love  into  Mary's  heart  as  she  clasped  her  Babe  to  her 
bosom,  or  that  -'ielded  the  Only-begotten  to  tlie  horror  of 
the  cross  for  man's  redemption :  so  there  shall  be  a  new 
t«  ne  in  the  voice  of  the  soul  that  says,  "  Amen,  Lord  ! " 

In  other  words,  we  must  not  look  into  the  dark  and  per- 
plexing questions  that  seethe  and  boil  like  wreaths  of  vapor 
around  us.  We  must  look  up  to  the  blue  sky  of  undimmed 
sunshine,  our  Father's  heart.  He  must  be  love,  beyond 
om'  tenderest,  deepe.'it,  richest  conceptions  of  what  love  is. 
In  his  dealings  with  us,  with  all  men,  and  especially  with 
the  lost  ones,  love  is  the  very  essence  and  law  of  his  nature. 
Somehow,  we  repeat  it,  everything  must  be  consistent  with 
this  all-persuasive  nature  and  temper  of  the  Divine  Being ; 
and  in  proportion  as  you  daie  to  believe  m  the  Fath*:^/, 
you  will  be  able  to  say  "  Yts,"  which  is  a  true  rendering  of 
the  Greek  word  in  our  version  translated  "Even  so  "  (Matt. 
xi.  26). 


III.  The  Triumph  of  the  Affirming  Sou:.. — "  Amen ; 
Halleluiah  ! "    Jesus  as  he  rested  in  his  Father  was  able  to 


THE  SOUL'S  "AMEN" 


6t 


say  not  only  "Even  so,  Father,"  but  "I  thank  tlee, 
Father";  and  so  there  shall  come  a  day  when  the  four 
and  twenty  elders,  representing  the  redeemed  Church,  shall 
see  the  judgment  of  the  great  opponent  of  the  Lamb's 
bride  and  say,  "  Amen ;  Halleluiah  ! " 

Mai'k  the  addition  of  "Halleluiah"  to  the  "Amen." 
Here  the  Amen,  and  not  often  the  Halleluiah ;  there  the 
two — the  assent  and  the  consent ;  the  acquiescence  and  the 
acclaim ;  the  submission  to  the  will  of  God,  and  the  triumph- 
ant outburst  of  praise  and  adoration.  Let  us  anticipate 
that  age  when  we  shall  know  as  we  are  known,  and  when 
we  shall  be  perfectly  satisfied,  perfectly  jubilant,  perfectly 
blessed ;  when  every  shadow  of  misunderstanding  and  mis- 
apprehension shall  be  dispelled,  and  we  shall  join  in  the 
hymn  of  the  rede'-'Uied  Church :  "  Great  and  marvelous  are 
thy  works,  O  Lord  God,  the  Almighty ;  rightecua  and  true 
are  thy  ways,  thou  King  of  the  ages  "  (Rev.  xv.  3,  r.v.). 


i? 


VII. 
Cl)e  Stoelling  of  Movhan. 

(Jeremiah  xii.  5.) 

"  Bat  I,  amid  the  torture  and  the  taunting, 
I  have  had  TheeI 
Thy  hand  was  holding  my  hand  fast  and  faster, 

Thy  voice  was  close  to  me : 
And  glorious  eyes  said,  '  Follow  me,  thy  Master^ 
Smile  as  I  smile  thy  faithfulness  to  seeJ*  " 

Mrs.  Hamilton>Kino. 


BETWEEN  the  incidents  referred  to  in  our  last  chapter 
and  the  subject  of  the  present  one,  a  most  terrible 
calamity  had  befallen  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  In  the  face 
of  urgent  remonstrances,  addressed  to  him  from  all  sides. 
King  Josiah  led  his  little  army  down  from  the  mountain 
fastnesses,  where  he  dwelt  safely,  to  attack  Pharaoh  Necho, 
who  was  marching  up  by  the  coast  route  to  participate  in 
the  scramble  for  the  spoils  of  Nineveh,  then  in  her  death- 
throes.  The  two  armies  met  at  Megiddo,  at  the  foot  of 
Carmel,  on  the  extreme  border  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon, 
which  has  so  often  been  a  decisive  battle-field.  The  issue 
was  not  long  in  suspense.  Josiah's  army  was  routed  and 
himself  mortally  wounded. 

"  Have  me  away ;  for  I  am  sore  wounded,"  said  the  dying 
monarch,  and  his  servants  bore  him  from  his  war-chariot 
to  another  in  reserve ;  but  he  died,  after  a  few  miles'  drive, 
at  Hadadrimmon.     His  death  was  the  signal  for  such  an 

63 


THE  SPyELLING  OF  JORD/tN 


«3 


outburst  of  grief  throughout  the  land  that  it  became  m 
after-years  the  emblem  of  excessive  sorrow.  Zechariah 
could  find  no  adequate  expression  for  the  anguish  of  Jeru- 
salem when  the  people  shall  look  on  Him  whom  they  pierced, 
and  mourn,  than  that  it  should  be  like  "  the  mourning  of 
Hadadrimmon  in  the  valley  of  Megiddo,"  when  the  land 
mourned,  every  family  apart.  It  ha«  been  compared  to 
the  grief  of  Athens  when  tidings  came  that  Lysander  had 
destroyed  her  fleet,  and  to  that  of  Edinburgh  on  the  even- 
ing of  Flodden.  Jeremiah  composed  an  elegy  on  the  death 
of  his  king  and  friend,  which  has  not  been  preserved ;  and 
at  once  the  fortunes  of  Judah  were  overcast  with  darkest 
gloom  (2  Chron.  xxxv.  20-27 ;  Zech.  xii.  11). 

The  next  king,  Josiah's  son  Jehoahaz,  reigned  but  three 
months,  and  then  was  led  off  with  a  ring  in  his  nose,  like 
some  wild  beast,  to  Egypt,  where  he  died.  Necho  insti- 
tuted his  brother  Jehoiakim  in  his  stead,  as  his  nominee 
and  tributary.  But  the  four  last  kings  of  Judah  reversed 
the  policy  of  Josiah.  They  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord,  and  of  Jehoiakim  it  is  recorded  that  he  wrought 
abomination  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  1-8). 

At  the  death  of  Josiah  the  large  party  that  favored  idol- 
fltr/  ^gain  asserted  itself.  The  reformatio.T  promoted  by  the 
good  king  had  never  struck  its  roots  deeply  in  the  land, 
and  the  vigor  with  which  he  had  carried  out  his  reforms  now 
led  to  a  corresponding  reaction.  I'he  reformers  fell  under 
the  popular  hate,  much  as  the  Puritans  did  in  the  days  of  the 
Restoration,  and  Jeremiah  especially  came  in  for  a  large 
share  of  it.  He  had  been  the  friend  and  adviser  of  the  late 
king,  and  had  not  scrupled  to  denounce  in  the  most  scathing 
terms  the  idolatry  and  licentiousness  of  his  age.  He  had 
uttered  terrible  predictions  of  coming  disaster,  which  were 
beginning  to  be  fulfilled.  There  were  the  mutterings  of  a 
coming  storm  of  hatred  and  murder.     Unbeknown  to  him, 


64 


fEREMMH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


his  countrymen  were  devising  devices  against  him,  saying, 
"  Let  us  destroy  the  tree  with  the  fruit  thereof,  and  let  us 
cut  him  of!  from  the  land  of  the  living,  that  his  name  may 
be  no  more  remembered." 

The  symptoms  of  this  rising  storm  were  less  likely  to 
reach  him,  because  he  had  been  commanded  to  itinerate 
among  the  cities  of  Judah,  as  well  as  the  streets  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  had  probably  started  on  a  prolonged  tour 
throughout  the  land,  standing  up  in  the  principal  market- 
places, and  announcing  everywhere  the  inevitable  retribu- 
tion that  must  follow  on  the  breach  of  the  divine  covenant 
(xi.  8).  The  issue  of  that  tour  was  profoundly  disappoint- 
ing. A  conspiracy  was  found  among  the  men  of  Judah 
and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem.  They  turned  back  to 
the  iniquities  of  their  forefathers ;  each  city  had  its  tutelary 
deity,  each  street  its  altar  to  Baal.  And  the  conviction 
was  wrought  into  the  prophet's  heart  that  intercession  itself 
was  useless  for  a  people  so  deeply  and  resolutely  set  on 
sin.  They  had  sinned  the  sin  unto  death,  for  which  prayer 
is  in  vain  (xi.  14;  i  John  v.  16). 

Disappointed  and  heart-sick,  Jeremiah  retired  to  his  native 
place  Anathoth.  He  was  unsuspicious  of  danger,  as  a  gen- 
tle lamb  led  to  the  slaughter.  Surely  among  his  brethren, 
in  the  house  of  his  father,  he  would  be  safe,  and  able  to 
find  the  sympathy  and  affection  for  which  his  sensitive 
heart  hungered,  but  which  evaded  him  everywhere  else. 
"But  it  was  not  to  be.  In  this  also  he  was  to  be  like  the 
/.ord  Jesus,  who  came  unto  his  own,  but  his  own  received 
hin.  not,  and  led  him  to  the  brow  of  the  hill  on  which  their 
city  was  built,  that  they  might  cast  him  down  headlong. 
There  was  treachery  in  the  little  village.  The  sacred  tie 
of  kindred  was  too  weak  to  restrain  the  outbreak  of  fanatic 
hate.  The  priestly  houses  had  winced  beneath  the  vehe- 
ment denunciations  of  their  young  relative,  and  could  bear 


THE  SH^EUING  OF  JORDAN 


6$ 


it  no  longer.  A  plot  was  therefore  set  on  foot,  and  under 
the  show  of  fair  words  they  conspired  to  take  the  prophet's 
life.  He  had  not  known  of  his  danger  but  for  divine  illu- 
mination :  "The  Lord  hath  given  me  knowledge  of  it,  and  I 
know  it:  then  thou  showedst  me  their  doings"  (xi.  i8). 

Stunned  with  the  sudden  discovery,  Jeremiah  turned  to 
God  with  remonstrance  and  appeal.  Conscious  of  his  own 
rectitude  and  the  rectitude  of  God,  he  was  for  a  moment 
caught  in  the  outer  circles  of  the  whirlpool  of  questioning 
which  has  ever  agitated  the  minds  of  God's  oppressed  ones 
concerning  the  unequal  distribution  of  earthly  lots.  "  Right- 
eous art  thou,  O  Lord,  when  I  plead  with  thee:  yet 
would  I  reason  the  cause  with  thee :  Wherefore  doth  the 
way  of  the  wicked  prosper  ?  wherefore  are  all  they  at  ease 
that  deal  very  treacherously?"  (xi.  20;  xii.  i,r.v.). 


I.  The  Appeal  of  the  Maligned  and  Persecuted 
Soul. — (i)  He  was  Conscious  of  his  own  Integrity. — With- 
out doubt  Jeremiah  was  profoundly  conscious  of  his  un- 
worthiness.  He  must  have  had  as  deep  a  conviction  of 
sinfulness  as  any  of  the  great  prophets  and  psalmists  of 
Israel.  None  could  have  lived  as  close  to  God  as  he  did 
without  an  overwhelming  sense  of  uncleanness.  What  Job 
felt,  and  Moses  and  David  and  Isaiah,  must  have  been 
constantly  present  to  his  consciousness  also.  But  in  re- 
spect to  this  special  outburst  of  hatred  he  knew  of  nothing 
for  which  to  blame  himself.  He  had  not  hastened  from 
being  a  shepherd,  nor  desired  the  woful  day,  nor  taken 
pleasure  in  the  dir  asters  he  announced,  nor  spoken  in  the 
heat  of  personal  passion.  The  sins  of  the  people  had  pro- 
cured the  evils  he  predicted,  and  he  had  only  sought  to 
warn  the  reckless  mariners  of  the  rocks  that  lay  straight  in 
their  course. 

When  we  are  reviled  and  hated,  we  should  carefully 


66 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


search  our  hearts  to  see  if  we  have  given  any  just  cause  to 
those  that  hate  end  persecute  us.  The  only  suffering  which 
comes  within  the  circle  of  Christ's  beatitude  is  that  which 
is  inflicted  falsely,  wrongfully,  and  for  his  sake.  The  man 
who  endures  griefs,  suffering  wrongfully,  alone  can  claim 
to  be  following  in  the  steps  of  the  Master,  and  to  be  offer- 
ing a  sacrifice  which  is  acceptable  to  God.  He  only  can 
count  or  God's  delivering  aid. 

The  bursting  storm  should  lead  the  captain  to  see  that 
there  is  ^  iace  among  his  crew,  and  amity  with  the  other 
ships  ot  the  fleet.  We  have  no  right  to  complain  of  the 
wrong-doing  of  others  unless  we  are  sure  that,  so  far  as 
we  are  concerned,  we  have  given  no  just  cause.  But  if 
we  have  done  so  there  is  no  option  but  to  agree  with  our 
adversary  quickly,  though  it  involve  leaving  our  gift  at  the 
altar.  Every  moment  of  delay  aggravates  the  case  and  in- 
creases the  difficulty  of  reconciliation.  The  course  of  jus- 
tice is  so  rapid,  from  the  adversary  to  the  judge,  the  judge 
to  the  officer,  and  the  officer  to  prison  (Matt.  v.  22-25). 

(2)  Ife  was  Perplexed  at  the  Inequality  of  Human  Lot. — 
Every  word  of  good  Asaph's  complaint  in  Psalm  Ixxiii. 
might  have  been  appropriated  by  Jeremiah.  He  had  never 
swerved  from  the  narrow  path  of  obedience ;  at  all  hazards 
he  had  dared  to  stand  alone,  bereft  of  the  comforts  and 
alleviations  that  come  in  the  lot  of  men ;  he  did  not  scruple 
to  bare  his  heart  toward  God,  knowing  that  to  the  limit  of 
his  light  he  had  done  his  bidding.  But  he  was  hated,  per- 
secuted, threatened  with  death,  while  the  way  of  the  wicked 
prospered,  and  they  were  at  ease  who  dealt  very  treacher- 
ously. Surely  it  was  in  vain  that  he  had  cleansed  his  heart 
and  washed  his  hands  in  innocency.  It  was  too  painful  for 
him.  His  feet  were  almost  gone,  his  steps  had  well-nigh 
slipped. 

It  Ls  the  question  of  all  ages,  to  be  answered  only  by  re- 


THE  SIVELLING  OF  JORDAN 


67 


by  re- 


membering that  this  world  is  upside-down ;  that  the  course 
of  nature  has  been  disturbed  by  sin ;  that  the  prince  of  the 
power  of  the  air  is  god  of  this  world ;  and  that  the  servants 
of  righteousness  fight,  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but 
against  principalities  and  powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the 
darkness  of  this  world,  the  wicked  spirits  in  heavenly 
places. 

(3)  He  was  Anxious  for  God^s  Character, — There  is  a 
touch  of  apparent  vindictiveness  in  his  cry.  "  Let  me  see 
thy  vengeance  on  them.  .  .  .  Pull  them  out  like  sheep  for  the 
slaughter,  and  prepare  them  for  the  day  of  slaughter."  We 
are  disposed  to  contrast  these  words  with  those  that  Jesus 
breathed  for  his  murderers  from  the  cross,  and  that  Stephen 
uttered  as  the  stones  crashed  in  upon  him ;  and  we  think 
that  there  is  an  alloy  in  the  fine  gold,  a  trace  of  dross  in 
the  saint. 

It  is  possible  to  adopt  the  suggestion  that  the  prophet 
was  predicting  the  fate  of  these  wicked  men,  or  that  he 
was  the  divine  mouthpiece  in  this  solemn  pronouncement 
of  coming  doom.  But  a  deeper  and  more  correct  concep- 
tion of  his  words  appears  to  be  that  he  was  concerned  with 
the  effect  that  would  be  produced  on  his  people  if  Jehovah 
passed  by  the  sin  of  his  persecutors  and  intending  murder- 
ers. It  was  as  though  the  prophet  feared  lest  his  own 
undeserved  sufferings  might  lead  men  to  reason  that 
wrong-doing  was  more  likely  to  promote  their  prosperity 
than  integrity  and  holiness.  Josiah  was  the  one  God-fear- 
ing monarch  of  his  time,  but  he  was  slain  in  battle ;  he 
was  the  devoted  servant  of  God,  and  his  life  was  one  long 
agony.  Was  \i  the  best  policy,  then,  to  fear  God  ?  Might 
it  not  be  wiser,  safer,  better,  to  worship  the  gods  of  the 
surrounding  peoples,  who  seemed  well  able  to  defend  their 
votaries,  and  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  great  king- 
doms that  maintained  their  temples?    As  Jeremiah  beheld 


68 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


the  blasting  influence  of  sin,  how  the  land  mourned  and  the 
herbs  were  withered  and  the  beasts  and  birds  consumed, 
his  heart  misgave  him.  He  saw  no  limit  to  the  awful  evil 
of  his  times  so  long  as  God  seemed  indifferent  to  its  preva- 
lence. Therefore  he  cried  for  vengeance — ^not  for  the  grati- 
fication of  his  own  feeling,  but  for  the  sake  of  Israel. 

(4)  JETe  also  Rolled  his  Cause  on  God. — So  might  chapter 
xi.,  verse  20  be  rendered :'" On  thee  have  I  rolled  my 
cause."  Ah !  this  was  wise.  And  it  is  our  only  safety  in 
times  of  great  soul  anguish.  The  Divine  Sufferer  did  this  on 
the  cross.  "  Who,  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled  not  again ; 
.  .  .  but  committed  himself  to  him  that  judgeth  righteously." 
In  his  steps  we  must  plant  our  feet.  When  men  malign 
and  plot  against  us,  when  friends  forsake,  when  difficulties 
like  Atlantic  breakers  threaten  to  engulf  us,  we  must  roll 
our  anxieties  from  ourselves  upon  the  blessed  Lord,  our 
burden-bearer,  and  leave  them  with  him.  The  care  ceases 
to  be  ours  when  it  has  been  committed  to  him.  He  will 
see  to  all  for  us  with  a  love  so  strong  and  tender  and  true 
that  we  need  have  no  further  cause  for  fear.  Roll  thyself, 
thy  burden,  and  thy  way  on  the  Lord. 


II.  The  Divine  Reply. — "  If  thou  hast  run  with  the 
footmen,  and  they  have  wearied  thee,  then  how  canst  thou 
contend  with  horses?  and  if  in  the  land  of  peace,  wherein 
thou  trustedst,  they  wearied  thee,  then  how  wilt  thou  do 
in  the  swelling  of  Jordan?"  God  stooped  over  his  life 
and  said :  "  Do  you  not  remember  when  I  first  called  you 
to  be  my  prophet  that  I  foreshadowed  the  loneliness  and 
isolation,  the  difficulty  and  persecution,  v^hich  were  in  store? 
Do  you  not  remember  that  I  told  you  that  you  would  have 
to  be  a  brazen  wall  against  the  whole  people  ?  Have  you 
already  lost  heart  ?  Are  you  so  i  oon  discouraged  ?  Has 
the  first  brush  of  opposition  mastered  your  heroic  courage? 


.  I 


THE  SIVELLING  OF  JORDAN 


69 


You  have  as  yet  run  with  footmen,  presently  you  will  en- 
counter horses ;  you  are  now  in  the  land  of  comparative 
peace,  your  native  village,  where  those  surround  you  who 
have  known  you  from  your  childhood,  and  yet  you  are  dis- 
mayed ;  but  how  will  you  do  when  a  tide  of  sorrow  comes 
upon  this  land,  as  when  the  Jordan  leaps  its  banks,  and 
swells  over  the  low-lying  lai^d  around,  and  drives  the  wild 
beasts  from  their  lair — how  then?  " 

Does  not  God  ever  deal  with  us  thus  ?  He  does  not 
put  us  at  once  to  contend  with  horses,  but  tests  us  first 
with  footmen.  He  does  not  allow  any  one  of  us  with  frail 
and  fainting  courage  to  meet  the  overflowing  floods  of  Jor- 
dan ;  but  he  causes  us  first  to  be  tested  in  our  homestead — 
the  land  of  peace,  where  we  are  comparatively  secure  amid 
those  who  know  and  love  us.  God  graduates  the  trials  of 
O'u:  life ;  he  allows  the  lesser  to  precede  the  greater.  He 
gives  us  the  opportunity  of  learning  to  trust  him  in  slighter 
difficulties,  that  faith  may  become  muscular  and  strong, 
and  that  we  may  be  able  to  walk  to  him  amid  the  surge 
of  the  ocean.  Be  sure  that  whatever  your  sorrows  and 
troubles  are  at  this  hour,  God  has  allowed  them  to  come 
to  afford  you  an  opportunity  of  preparation  for  future  days. 
Do  not  be  discouraged  or  give  up  the  fight,  or  be  unfaith- 
ful in  the  very  httle.  Do  not  say  you  cannot  bear  it.  You 
can! 

There  is  sufficient  grace  in  him ;  appropriate  it,  use  it, 
rest  upon  him.  Be  very  thankful  that  he  has  given  you 
this  time  of  discipline  and  of  searching,  and  now,  taking  to 
yourself  all  that  he  waits  to  give — the  grace  and  comfort 
and  assurance — go  forward !  He  cannot  fail  you.  What 
he  is  in  the  lesser  he  will  be  much  more  in  the  greater. 
The  grace  he  gives  to-day  is  but  as  a  silver  thread  com- 
pared to  the  river  of  grace  he  will  give  to  you  to-morrow. 
If  you  start  back  now  you  will  miss  the  greater  discipline 


N; 


M 


1 


70 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


that  will  surely  come,  but  in  missing  it  you  will  also  miss 
the  greater  revelation  of  himself  that  will  accompany  the 
discipline.  Be  true  to  God  !  Trust  in  God,  and  remem- 
ber that  when  he  brings  you  to  the  swelling  of  Jordan — 
not  necessarily  death,  but  some  awful  flood  of  sorrow — 
that  then,  for  the  first  time  perhaps,  you  will  meet  the  ark 
and  the  Priest  whose  feet,  when  they  dip  in  the  margin  of 
the  river,  will  cause  it  to  part,  and  you  will  go  0.'=^"  dry- 
shod.  When  Jordan  overflows  its  banks  God  brings  his 
chosen  people  to  the  brink,  and  it  is  then  that  he  cleaves 
the  path  through  the  heart  of  the  river,  so  that  they  are 
not  touched  by  its  descending  torrent. 

It  is  a  solemn  question.  You  have  failed  in  the  quiet, 
sequestered  home  life :  how  will  you  do  in  the  turmoil  of 
the  city,  with  its  terrific  temptations?  You  have  suc- 
cumbed when  there  was  everything  to  help  you :  how  will 
you  do  when  all  is  against  you?  You  cannot  bear  the 
transient  troubles  of  an  hour  with  patience :  how  will  you 
do  in  those  that  wear  the  life  out  with  ceaseless  pain? 
You  cannot  live  well :  how  will  you  do  when  the  moment 
arrives  for  you  to  die  ?  "  If  the  righteous  scarcely  be  saved, 
where  shall  the  ungodly  and  the  sinner  appear  ?  " 


'i 


VIII. 


/. 


i\i 


(Jeremi/ui  xiv.,  XV.) 

•*  If,  in  the  paths  of  the  world, 
Stones  might  have  ^younded  thy  feetf 
Toil  or  dejection  have  tried 
Thy  spirit — of  that  we  saw 
Nothing ;  to  us  thou  wast  still 
Cheerful,  and  helpful,  and  firm ; 
Therefore  to  thee  it  was  given 
Many  :o  save  with  thyself ; 
And  at  the  end  of  thy  day, 
O  faithful  shepherd!  to  come. 
Bringing  thy  sheep  in  thy  hand." 

Arnold. 

THE  reign  of  Jehoiakim  was  still  young.  Necho  was 
back  in  Egypt,  Nineveh  was  tottering  to  her  fall, 
Babylon  was  slowly  growing  upon  the  horizon  as  the  rival 
of  each  great  empire  and  as  the  future  desolater  of  Judah. 
Meanwhile  the  chosen  people,  like  a  tree  whose  heart  is 
eaten  away  with  insects,  were  corrupted  by  innumerable 
evils.  As  a  premonition  of  coming  destruction,  and  as 
though  the  Almighty  would  make  one -last  effort  to  arouse 
them  to  the  awfulness  and  imminence  of  their  peril,  a  ter- 
rible drought  cast  its  sere  mantle  over  the  land.  It  had 
often  been  predicted  among  the  other  results  of  disobedi- 
ence, but  probably  never  befor3  had  it  fallen  with  such 
desolating  effect  (Lev.  xxvi.  20;  Deut.  xi.  17  ;  xxviii.  23). 
The  whole  land  was  filled  with  mourning.    In  the  places 

71 


"■'   IS 


73 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


of  public  concourse,  where  the  people  gathered  in  the 
burning  sunshine,  they  sat  in  Mack  garments  upon  the  hard 
ground.  Accustomed  to  rely  upon  the  natural  resources 
of  the  country,  nourished  by  the  rivers  and  streams  that 
gushed  from  valley  and  hill,  they  were  reduced  to  the 
dire  extremities  of  famine.  The  vines  on  the  terraced 
hills  wtre  withered,  the  cornfields  were  covered  with  stub- 
ble, and  the  pasture  on  the  wolds  was  yellow  and  scorched. 
The  very  dew  seemed  to  have  forsaken  the  land ;  where 
the  river  had  poured  its  full  tide  there  were  only  a  few 
trickling  drops.  The  beds  of  the  watercourses  were  filled 
with  stones.  And  the  bitter  cry  of  Jerusalem  ascended, 
made  up  of  the  mingled  anguish  of  men  and  women  and 
children,  whose  parched  lips  might  not  be  moistened. 

The  description  given  by  the  prophet  is  very  striking. 
Want  is  felt  in  the  great  houses  of  the  nobles,  who  send 
their  servants  for  water  without  avail.  The  plowmen  sit 
in  their  bams  with  covered  heads ;  it  is  useless  to  think  of 
driving  their  plows  through  the  chapped  soil.  The  hind, 
whose  maternal  love  has  passed  into  a  proverb,  is  repre- 
sented as  forsaking  her  young,  that  she  may  seek  for  grass. 
The  wild  asses  stand  on  the  bare  heights  and  eagerly  snuff 
up  what  breeze  may  pass  over  the  land  in  the  evening,  to 
relieve  the  agony  of  the  fever  of  their  thirst.  All  the  land 
bakes  like  an  oven,  and  the  sun,  as  he  passes  daily  through  a 
leaden  sky,  looks  down  on  scenes  of  unutterable  horror. 

What  a  picture  is  this  of  the  desolation  that  sometimes 
overtakes  a  Christian  community !  Every  faithful  worker 
could  tell  of  periods  when  it  has  seemed  as  though  the 
cloud  and  aew  of  divine  blessing  had  forsaken  the  plot  on 
which  he  was  engaged.  There  are  no  tears  of  penitence, 
no  sighs  of  contrition,  no  blessed  visitations  of  the  dew  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  no  fresh  young  shoots  of  piety,  no  joy  in 
the  Lord,  no  fruits  of  the  Spirit.    Ah  !  then  work  is  hard 


THE  DROUGHT 


73 


and  difficult,  and  the  soul  of  the  worker  faints  and  is  dis- 
couraged. Blessed  is  that  church  which  has  not  known 
this  time  of  drought,  and  which  has  not  experienced  in 
the  spiritual  sphere  the  counterpart  of  the  utter  failure  of 
moisture  in  the  natural. 

It  is  at  such  times  that  the  lover  of  his  fellows  gathers 
himself  together  to  deal  with  the  Almighty.  You  can  see 
him  entering  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  prepared 
to  speak  with  God,  and,  if  possible,  secure  a  mitigation  of 
the  reign  of  the  brazen  sky  and  a  return  of  those  times  of 
blessing  that  can  only  come  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 
His  face  is  set  with  a  resolute  purpose.  Through  the  weary 
eyes  the  fire  of  a  mighty  resolution  is  burning.  With  his 
two  hands  he  is  prepared  to  come  to  close  dealings  with 
God,  as  Jacob  when  he  made  supplication  v/ith  the  angel. 
Let  us  draw  near  and  overhear  the  c  oiioquy  between  Jere- 
miah and  the  Almighty.  It  may  be  that  we  shall  discover 
arguments  that  we  may  take  upon  our  own  lips  when  days 
of  drought  are  visiting  the  Church  at  large,  or  that  sphere 
of  work  in  which  we  are  called  specially  to  labor.  It  is 
thus  that  the  soul  discourses  with  God. 


of 
in 
rd 


I.  The  Pleadings  of  the  Interceding  Soul. — "  My 
God,  I  come  into  thy  presence  to  acknowledge  my  own 
sin,  and  especially  the  sins  of  my  people.  I  stand  before 
thee  as  their  priest  to  confess  the  sins  which  have  separated 
between  thee  and  them,  incurring  thy  divine  displeasure, 
and  closing  the  avenues  of  communion.  Our  iniquities 
testify  against  us,  and  our  backslidings  are  many.  Once 
thou  seemedst  to  abide  in  our  midst:  thy  smile  a  per- 
petual summer ;  thy  presence  one  long  stream  of  benedic- 
tion ;  thy  grace  like  a  river  making  glad  thy  city.  But  of 
late  thy  visits  have  been  few  and  far  between.  Thou  hast 
tarried  for  a  night,  and  been  away  again  at  dawn,  and  we 


74 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


sorely  miss  thee.  Once  thou  wert  as  a  mighty  man,  our 
Samson,  whose  arm  sufficed  to  keep  our  enemies  at  bay ; 
but  for  long  thou  hast  seemed  overcome  by  an  unnatural 
stupor,  by  a  paralysis  that  holds  thee  like  a  vise.  And 
yet  thou  hast  not  really  changed.  Thou  art  our  Saviour; 
thou  art  in  the  midst  of  us.  We  bear  thy  name.  Thine 
honor  is  implicated  in  our  lot.  What  thou  couldst  not  do 
for  any  merit  '  our?  .o  or  the  credit  of  thy  name ;  do 
for  the  .iake  of.  if^y  -ou ,  cjo  for  the  maintenance  of  thy 
cause  upon  errti/,  L*^  e  us  not,  nor  let  that  foreboding 
prediction  oi  Ezekici  be  •  -lized,  when  he  saw  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  recede  by  stages  from  the  holy  place,  until  it 
stood  outside  the  city  walls  "  (Jer.  xiv.  7-9). 

7%<f  Answer  of  the  Divine  Spirit. — There  are  times  when 
God  seems  to  speak  thus  to  the  soul — if  we  may  dare  put 
our  impression  of  his  words  in  our  own  phrase :  "  It  is  use- 
less, my  servant,  to  pray.  My  grace  is  infinite ;  my  mercy 
endureth  forever ;  my  fullness  waits  to  pour  forth  its  tides, 
to  make  the  wilderness  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose.  I 
have  no  pleasure  in  the  parched  wilderness ;  I  would  that 
it  were  springs  of  water.  I  have  no  liking  for  the  glowing 
sand ;  I  would  that  it  might  become  a  pool.  But  so  long 
as  men  chng  to  their  sins,  so  long  as  they  perpetrate 
abominations  Uke  those  which  Ezekiel  saw  when  in  the 
chambers  of  imagery  he  beheld  the  elders  of  Israel  offer- 
ing incense  to  creeping  things  and  abominable  beasts,  it  is 
impossible  for  me  to  cause  rain  or  give  showers.  Beneath 
the  appearance  of  religious  worship  and  decorum,  evils  are 
breeding  that  separate  between  my  people  and  myself,  and 
hide  my  face  from  them.  These  must  be  dealt  with.  You 
must  begin  to  search  the  chambers  of  their  hearts  with 
candles,  to  show  my  people  their  transgressions,  and  the 
house  of  Israel  their  sins.  Your  work  just  now  is  not  that 
of  the  intercessor,  but  of  the  reformer;  not  yet  to  plead 


THE  DROUGHT 


75 


with  Elijah  upon  the  broT/  of  Carmel,  but,  like  Elijah,  to 
extirpate  the  luiking  evil  of  the  people  as  when  he  dyed 
the  yaters  of  Kishon  witl^  the  blood  of  Ahab's  priests" 
(xiv.  10-12). 

II.  The  Lament  oi  the  True  Shepherd. — "Ah,  Lord 
God!  T  *e,  too  true,  sadly  too  true,  are  thy  words.  Thy 
people  deserve  all  that  thou  hast  said.  Their  iniquities  are 
alone  accountable  for  their  sonows.  But  remember  how 
falsely  they  have  been  taught.  The  land  is  full  of  those 
who  hide  thy  truth  under  a  cloud  of  words.  They  ^ay  that 
the  outward  ritual  sufficeth,  howsoever  far  the  hea.  is  :)m 
thee.  There  is  grievous  fault;  but  surely  it  li-  hi,  he 
door  of  those  who  mislead  the  fickle,  chanfni  "^rowd. 
Their  mouths  are  lined  with  wool ;  they  cry  *  Peace,  Ve.'.ce  ! ' 
when  there  is  none.  The  very  remonstrances  '  '  conscience 
are  drowned  by  their  delusive  assurances.  Spoix  thy  peo- 
ple !  they  are  scattered  because  the  shepherds  have  failed 
in  their  high  commission  "  (xiv.  13). 

The  Answer  of  the  Divine  Spirit. — There  are  days  in  the 
history  of  the  Christian  when  he  is  called  to  walk  upon  the 
mountains  of  vision,  and  overhears  the  attendant  shepherds, 
of  whom  Bunyan  speaks,  talking  to  each  other  and  saying, 
"  Shall  we  show  these  pilgrims  some  wonders  ?  "  Beneath 
their  guidance  he  climbs  to  the  top  of  the  hill  called  Error, 
which  is  very  steep  on  the  farther  side.  At  the  bottom  lie 
several  men  all  dashed  to  pieces  by  a  fall  from  the  top. 
"  What  meaneth  this  ?  "  is  the  obvious  inquiry.  "  Have 
you  not  heard  of  Hymenaeus  and  Philetus,"  is  the  reply, 
"  who  erred  concerning  the  faith  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  ?  These  are  they."  So  in  our  pleadings  for  men 
we  sometimes  obtain  a  glimpse  of  the  inevitableness  of  the 
divine  judgments  and  the  irreparableness  of  the  injury  that 
false  teachers  may  do  to  their  fellows.    There  is  no  fate 


if 


76 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


so  terrible  as  of  those  who  have  not  only  erred  themselves, 
but  have  caused  men  to  err ;  who  have  been  a  stumbling- 
block  in  the  way  of  one  of  God's  little  ones.  Better  be 
dumb  and  not  able  to  speak  than  say  words  that  may  de- 
stroy the  faith  of  childhood,  or  start  questionings  that  may 
shatter  by  one  fell  blow  the  construction  of  years.  It  was 
in  this  strain  that  God  replied  to  the  prophet : 

"  The  doom  of  the  false  prophets  will  be  terrible.  Their 
fate  will  be  the  more  awful  because  they  have  run  without 
being  sent,  and  prophesied  without  having  seen  a  vision. 
There  has  been  no  divine  impulse  energizing  their  words. 
Position,  bread,  power,  have  been  the  incentives  of  their 
Office ;  but  the  people  have  loved  to  have  it  so.  Their  cor- 
rupt morals  have  produced  a  corrupt  priesthood  and  a  crop 
of  false  prophets.  The  men  of  whom  you  complain  are  the 
product  of  their  times.  My  people,  enervated  with  sloth, 
luxury,  and  conceit,  would  not  endure  the  simple  truth  of 
the  divine  Wore" ;  and  this  evil  band  have  been  bred  and 
nurtured  in  the  stifling  corruption  of  the  age.  Until,  there- 
fore, the  people  themselves  have  put  away  their  sin,  and 
returned  to  me  in  penitence  and  consecration,  they  must 
be  held  guilty  before  my  sight,  and  suffer  the  outworking 
of  their  sin.  *  I  will  pour  their  wickedness  upon  them ' " 
(xiv.  14-16). 


III.  The  Interceding  Soul. — "  Granted,  great  God, 
that  thou  art  just  and  right,  yet  thou  canst  not  utterly  re- 
ject. Thy  smiting  cannot  be  unto  death.  Thou  must 
heal.  Thou  mayest  cast  away  those  with  whom  thou  hast 
not  entered  into  covenant  relationship,  or  on  whom  thy 
name  has  not  been  named,  or  among  whom  the  throne 
of  thy  glory  has  not  been  set  up,  but  thou  canst  not 
deal  with  us  as  with  them.  There  is  a  tie  between  thee 
and  us  which  our  sin  cannot  break.    There  are  claims  which 


THE  DROUGHT 


77 


we  have  on  thee  as  our  Father,  which  the  far-country  wan- 
derings of  the  prodigal  cannot  annul.  There  are  interweav- 
ings  of  thy  character  and  prestige  with  our  history  which  no 
stroke  of  thy  pen  can  dissolve.  Remember  the  covenant ; 
remember  thy  promise  to  thy  Son;  remember  thy  bride 
whom  thou  canst  not  put  away ;  remember  that  we  have 
no  help  but  in  thee ;  remember  the  word  on  which  thou 
hast  caused  us  to  hope — therefore  we  will  still  wait  upon 
thee.  We  are  not  worthy  to  be  called  thine ;  but  we  claim 
the  kiss,  the  robe,  the  fatted  calf"  (xiv.  17-22). 

The  Answer  of  the  Divine  Spirit. — It  is  as  though  the 
Lord  said :  "  I  am  wearied  with  repenting.  I  have  tried 
every  means  of  restraining  them  and  turning  them  to  bet- 
ter things — now  by  winnowing  out  the  chaff,  and  again 
by  bereavement  and  sorrow,  and  again  by  the  swift  destruc- 
tion of  the  sword.  They  have  appeared  to  amend,  but  the 
improvement  was  only  superficial.  Now  my  m.ind  is  thor- 
oughly made  up.  My  methods  must  be  more  drastic,  my 
discipline  more  searching  and  thorough.  I  will  turn  my 
hand  upon  my  people,  and  thoroughly  purge  away  their 
dross,  and  take  away  all  their  tin,  and  I  will  restore  their 
judges  as  at  the  first  and  their  counselors  as  at  the  begin- 
ning. Thus  I  will  answer  thy  pleadings  on  their  behalf. 
The  destruction  of  the  city,  the  decimation  of  tbe  people 
by  sword  and  famine,  the  awful  sorrows  of  captivity,  shall 
act  as  purging  fires,  through  which  they  shall  pass  to  a 
new  and  blessed  life.  Nothing  else  can  now  avail.  For 
my  love  of  them  I  cannot  spare  them.  The  prayers  of  my 
holiest  cannot  alter  my  determination,  since  only  thus  can 
my  eternal  purpose  of  redemption  be  realized  "  (xv.  1-9). 


i 


IV.  The  Cry  of  the  Intercessor. — Here  the  prophet 
falls  into  a  muse,  and  as  he  foresees  the  misrepresentation 
of  his  motives,  and  the  certain  hate  which  his  unfaltering 


78 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


prediction  of  coming  doom  must  excite,  he  wishes  that  he 
had  never  been  bom.  So  does  the  heart  of  the  man  of  God 
fail,  and  if,  like  Jeremiah's,  it  is  highly  strung  and  keenly 
sensitive,  it  becomes  the  prey  of  the  deepest  anguish.  "  Why, 
O  God,  didst  thou  make  me  so  gentle  and  sympathetic,  so 
naturally  weak  and  yielding,  so  incapable  of  looking  calmly 
on  pain  ?  Would  not  some  stronger,  rougher  nature  have 
done  thy  bidding  better  ?  Even  now  hast  thou  not  some 
man  of  ruder  make  to  whom  thou  canst  intrust  this  mis- 
sion ?  There  are  skins  more  impervious  to  the  scorching 
heat  than  mine :  may  they  not  go  into  these  flames  ?  Why 
this  stammering  lip,  this  faltering  heart,  this  thorn  in  my 
flesh?"  (XV.  lo). 

27te  Answer  of  the  Divine  Spirit. — "  I  will  strengthen 
thee  for  good."  It  is  as  if  God  said :  "  My  grace  is  suffi- 
cient for  thee.  I  have  summoned  thee,  with  all  thy  weak- 
nesses, to  perform  my  will,  because  my  strength  is  only 
perfected  thus.  I  need  a  low  platform  for  the  exhibition 
of  my  great  power.  To  those  tliat  have  no  might  I  impart 
strength ;  in  those  that  ha^o  no  wisdom  I  unfold  my  deep- 
est thoughts.  The  broken  reed  furnishes  the  pillar  of  my 
Temple ;  smoking  flax  gives  light  to  my  beacon-fires.  Be 
content  to  be  a  threshold  over  which  the  river  passes ;  be 
satisfied  to  be  a  rod  in  my  hand  which  shall  achieve  the 
deliverance  of  my  people.  O  frail,  weak  soul,  thou  art  like- 
liest to  be  the  channel  and  organ  for  the  forthputting  of 
my  energy.  Only  yield  thyself  to  me,  and  let  me  have  my 
way  through  thee,  with  thee,  in  thee ;  then  thou  shalt  be 
as  the  northern  iron  and  brass,  which  man  cannot  break  " 
(xv.  11-14). 


V.  The  Response  of  the  Soul. — "O  Lord,  thou  know- 
est."  *'  Things  that  my  dearest  cannot  guc:.3,  which  I  can- 
not utter,  which  I  am  slow  to  admit  even  to  myself ;  the 


THE  DROUGHT 


79 


hope  that  trembles  like  the  first  flush  of  dawn,  and  the  fear 
that  paralyzes ;  the  conflict,  the  broken  ideals,  the  unfin- 
ished sentences,  the  songs  without  words :  thou  knowest. 
Thou  art  my  all.  Thy  smile  strengthens  me  against  re- 
proach. Thy  words  bring  rifts  of  joy  and  rejoicing  in  my 
saddest  hours.  Thy  presence  banishes  londiness  when  I 
sit  alone.  And  yet  sometimes  a  dark  foreboding  comes  that 
thou  wilt  be  to  me  as  a  deceitful  brook,  whose  intermit- 
tent waters  fail,  which  is  dry  when  most  its  flow  is  needed. 
I  know  it  cannot  be,  since  thou  art  faithful ;  and  yet  what 
could  I  do  if,  after  having  made  me  what  I  am,  thou  should- 
est  leave  me  to  myself  ?"  (xv.  15-18). 

The  Answer  of  the  Divine  Spirit. — "  Renounce  thy  fore- 
bodings." God  seems  to  say :  "  Come  back  from  the  far 
country  of  thy  despondency.  I  would  have  thee  stand  face 
to  face  with  me  without  a  sh?  dow  of  a  cloud.  Wait  before 
me.  Consider  not  thy  frailty,  but  my  might ;  not  thy  foes, 
but  my  deliverances.  Put  from  thee  that  which  is  vile ;  ex- 
pose thyself  to  my  refining  fires,  that  all  thy  dross  may  be 
expurgated.  Divest  thyself  of  all  that  is  inconsistent  with 
thy  high  calling.  Then  thou  shalt  be  as  my  mouth ;  thou 
Shalt  stand  amid  the  surging  crowd  as  a  fenced  brazen 
wall ;  thou  shalt  be  impregnable  against  the  assault  of  fear ; 
in  the  darkest  hours,  when  floods  of  ungodliness  might 
make  thee  afraid,  and  the  fiuy  of  hell  be  hurled  against 
thee,  I  will  be  with  thee  to  save  and  deliver.  Thou  may- 
est  have  neither  wife  nor  child ;  but  I  will  be  to  thee  more 
than  they.  And  I  will  deliver  thee  out  of  the  hand  of  the 
wicked,  aij  '  redeem  thee  out  of  the  hand  of  the  terrible." 
"  This  is  the  heritage  of  the  servants  of  the  Lord,  and  their 
righteousness  Is  of  me,  saith  the  Lord"  (xv.  19-21). 


II 


I  i 


IX. 


«« 


CO)n  tl)e  potto's  tDl)eel.** 

(Jeremiah  xviii.  4.) 


"  He  fixed  thee  'mid  this  dance 
Of  plastic  circumstance, 
This  present  thou,  forsooth,  wouldst  fain  arrest : 
Machinery  just  meant 
To  give  thy  soul  its  bent, 
Try  thee,  and  turn  thee  forth,  sufficiently  impressed." 

R.  Browning. 


ONE  day,  beneath  the  impulse  of  the  Divine  Spirit, 
Jeremiah  went  beyond  the  city  precincts  to  the  Val- 
ley of  Hinnom,  on  the  outskirts  of  Jerusalem,  where,  in  a 
little  hut,  he  found  a  potter  busily  engaged  at  his  handi- 
craft. "Behold,  he  wrought  a  work  on  the  wheels." 
Amid  the  many  improvements  of  the  present  day,  the  art 
of  pottery  remains  almost  as  it  was  as  many  centuries  be- 
fore Christ  as  we  live  after. 

As  tie  prophet  stood  quietly  beside  the  potter,  he  saw 
him  take  a  piece  of  clay  from  the  mass  that  lay  beside  his 
hand,  and,  having  kneaded  it  to  rid  it  of  the  bubbles,  place 
it  on  the  wheel,  rapidly  revolving  horizontally  at  the  motion 
of  his  foot  driving  tht  treadle.  From  that  moment  his 
hands  wer<;  at  work,  within  and  without,  shaping  the  vessel 
with  his  deft  touch,  here  widening,  there  leading  it  up  into 
a  more  slender  form,  and,  again,  opening  out  the  lip.  So 
that  from  the  shapeless  clay  there  emerged  a  fair  and  beaii- 

80 


I 


ON  THE  POTTER'S  IVHEEl," 


ai 


o »» 


I 


tiful  vessel,  fit  for  the  Temple  court  or  the  royal  palace. 
When  it  was  nearly  complete,  and  the  next  step  would 
have  been  to  remove  it,  to  await  the  kiln,  through  a  flaw 
in  the  material  it  fell  a  shapeless  ruin — some  broken  pieces 
upon  the  wheel,  and  others  upon  the  floor  of  the  house. 

The  prophet  naturally  expected  that  the  potter  would 
immediately  take  another  piece  of  clay,  and  produce  in  its 
yielding  substance  the  ideal  which  had  been  so  hopelessly 
marred  under  his  hand.  Instead  of  this,  however,  to  his 
astonishment  and  keenly  excited  interest,  the  potter  with 
scrupulous  care  gathered  up  the  broken  pieces  of  the  clay 
and  pressed  them  together  as  at  the  first,  and  placed  the 
clay  again  where  it  had  lain  before,  and  made  it  again  into 
another  vessel,  as  seemed  good  to  the  potter  to  make  it. 
Perhaps  this  second  vessel  was  noi  quite  so  fair  as  the  first 
might  have  been ;  still  it  was  beautiful  and  useful.  It  was 
a  memorial  of  the  potter's  patience  and  long-suffering,  of 
his  careful  use  of  material,  and  of  his  power  of  repairing  loss 
and  making  something  out  of  failure  and  disappointment. 

O  vision  of  the  long-suffering  patience  of  God  !  O 
bright  anticipation  of  God's  redemptive  work  !  O  parable 
of  remade  characters  and  Hves  and  hopes !  To  us,  as  to 
Jeremiah,  the  divine  thought  is  flashed:  "Cannot  I  do 
with  you  as  this  potter  ?  saith  the  Lord.  Behold,  as  the 
clay  i.  in  the  potter's  hand,  so  are  ye  in  mine  hand,  O 
Louse  of  Israel." 

The  purport  of  this  vision  seems  to  have  been  to  give 
his  people  hope  that  even  though  they  had  marred  God's 
fair  ideal,  yet  a  glorious  and  blessed  future  was  within 
reach ;  and  that  if  only  they  would  yield  themselves  to  the 
touch  of  the  Great  Potter,  he  would  undo  the  results  of 
years  of  disobedience  which  had  marred  and  spoiled  his 
fair  purpose,  and  would  make  the  chosen  people  a  vessel 
unto  honor,  sanctified  and  meet  for  the  Master's  use. 


1 


;r  ij 


8a 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


The  same  thought  may  apply  to  us  all.  Who  is  there 
that  is  not  conscious  of  having  marred  and  resisted  the 
touch  of  God's  molding  hands  ?  Who  is  there  that  does 
not  lament  opportunities  of  saintliness  which  were  lost 
through  the  obdurateness  of  the  will  and  the  hardness 
of  the  heart?  Who  is  there  that  would  not  like  to  be 
made  again  as  seems  good  to  the  Potter?  "But  now, 
O  Lord,  thou  art  our  Father ;  we  are  the  clay,  and  thou 
oiu:  Potter ;  and  we  all  are  the  work  of  thy  hand.  Be  not 
wroth  very  sore,  O  Lord,  neither  remember  iniquity  for- 


ti 


ever. 


I.  The  Divine  Making  of  Men. — (i)  The  Potter  has  an 
Ideal. — Floating  through  his  fancy  there  is  the  vessel  that 
is  to  be.  He  already  sees  it  hidden  in  the  shapeless  clay, 
waiting  for  his  call  to  evoke.  His  hands  achieve  so  far  as 
they  may  the  embodiment  of  the  fair  conception  of  his 
thought.  Before  the  woman  applies  scissors  to  the  silk  she 
has  conceived  the  pattern  of  her  dress ;  before  the  spade 
cleaves  the  sod  the  architect  has  conceived  the  plan  of  the 
building  to  be  erected  there. 

So  of  God  in  nature.  The  pattern  of  this  round  world 
and  of  her  sister-spheres  lay  in  his  creative  thought  before 
the  first  beam  of  light  streamed  across  the  abyss.  All  that 
exists  embodies  with  more  or  less  exactness  the  divine  ideal 
— sin  alone  excepted.  So  of  the  mystical  body  of  Christ, 
the  Church,  his  bride.  In  his  Book  all  his  "  members  were 
written,  which  in  continuance  were  fashioned,  wnen  as  yet 
there  was  none  of  them."  So  also  of  the  possibilities  of  each 
human  Ufe,  I  know  not  if  we  shall  ever  be  permitted, 
amid  the  archives  of  heaven,  to  see  the  transcript  of  God's 
original  thought  of  what  our  life  might  have  been  had  we 
only  yielded  ourselves  \q  the  hands  that  reach  down  from 


"ON  THE  POTTER'S  WHEEL' 


83 


heaven  molding  men ;  but  sure  it  is  that  God  foreordained 
and  predestinated  us,  each  in  his  own  measure  and  degree, 
to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son. 

See  that  mother  bending  over  the  cradle  where  her  first- 
bom  baby  son  hes  sleeping.  Mark  that  smile  which  goes 
and  comes  over  her  face,  like  a  breath  of  wind  on  a  calm 
summer's  day !  Why  does  she  smile?  Ah!  she  is  dream- 
ing, and  in  her  dreams  is  building  castles  of  the  future 
eminence  of  this  child — in  the  pulpit  or  the  Senate,  in  war 
or  art.  If  only  she  might  have  her  way  he  should  be  fore- 
most in  happiness,  renowned  in  the  service  of  men.  But 
no  mother  ever  wished  so  much  for  her  child  as  God  for 
us,  when  first  cradled  at  the  foot  of  the  cross. 

To  be  like  Christ,  the  type  of  perfect  manhood ;  to  be 
as  much  to  Christ  as  he  was  to  his  Father ;  to  reflect  the 
face  of  Christ  on  men  as  he  the  face  of  God ;  to  fulfill  the 
commission  of  redemption;  to  take  up  the  cross;  to  be 
crucified  with  Christ ;  to  rise  and  reign  with  him — all  this 
is  God's  ideal. 

(2)  77ie  Potter  Achieves  his  Purpose  by  Means  of  the  Wheel. 
— In  the  discipline  of  human  life  this  surely  represents  the 
revolution  of  daily  circumstance ;  often  monotonous,  com- 
monplace, trivial  enough,  and  yet  intended  to  effect,  if  it 
may,  ends  on  which  God  has  set  his  heart. 

Many,  on  entering  the  life  of  full  consecration  and  devo- 
tion, are  eager  to  change  the  circumstances  of  their  lives 
for  those  in  which  they  supi)ose  that  they  will  more  readily 
attain  a  fully  developed  character.  Hence  much  of  the 
restlessness  and  fever,  the  disappointment,  and  willfulness, 
of  the  early  days  of  Christian  expenence.  Such  have  yet  to 
learn  that  out  of  myriads  of  circumstances  God  has  chosen 
the  lot  of  each  as  being  specially  adapted  to  develop  the 
hidden  qualities  and  idiosyncrasies  of  the  soul  he  loves. 


If 


i 


n 


84 


JERMMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


Anything  else  than  the  life  which  you  are  called  to  live 
would  fail  in  giving  scope  for  the  evolution  of  properties 
of  your  nature  which  are  known  only  to  God,  as  the  colors 
and  fragrance  which  lie  enfolded  in  some  tropic  seed.  Be- 
lieve that  all  has  been  ordered  or  permitted,  because  of 
that  which  lay  entombed  within  you  waiting  for  his  call, 
"Come  forth!" 

Do  not,  therefore,  seek  to  change,  by  some  rash  and 
willful  act,  the  setting  and  environment  of  your  life.  Stay 
where  yoiT  are  till  God  as  evidently  calls  you  elsewhere  as 
he  has  put  you  where  you  are.  Abide  for  the  present  in 
the  calling  whertin  you  were  called.  Throw  upon  him  the 
responsibility  of  indicating  to  you  a  change  when  it  is  nec- 
essary for  your  further  development.  In  the  meanwhile 
look  deep  into  the  heart  of  every  circumstance  for  its  spe- 
cial message,  lesson,  or  discipline.  Upon  the  way  in  which 
you  accept  or  reject  these  will  depend  the  achievement  or 
marring  of  the  divine  purpose. 

You  complain  of  the  monotony  of  your  life.  Day  in, 
day  out,  the  same  round.  Year  after  year  the  same  path 
trodden  to  and  fro ;  no  horizon ;  no  space  or  width ;  only 
the  same  lane  of  sky  between  the  high  houses  on  either 
side.  What  scope  is  there  here  for  the  evolution  of  noble 
character  ?  What  opportunity  to  meditate  and  achieve 
great  deeds  ?  Yet  remember  that  the  passive  virtues  are 
even  dearer  to  God  than  the  active  ones.  They  take  the 
longest  learning  and  are  the  last  learned.  They  consist  in 
patience,  submission,  endurance,  long-suffering,  persistence 
in  well-doing.  They  need  more  courage  and  evince  greater 
heroism  than  those  qualities  which  the  world  admires  most. 
But  they  can  only  be  acquired  in  just  that  monotonous 
and  narrow  round  of  which  many  complain  as  offering  so 
azpjM  a  iJiance  of  acquiring  saintliness. 

(;>)  Ty^*^  Bulk  of  the  Work  is  Done  by  the  Potter's  Fingers, 


i 


il 


ON  THE  POTTER'S  IVHEEU 


85 


0  live 
perties 
colors 
.    Be- 

iise  of 
s  call, 

h  and 
Stay 
Leie  as 
ient  in 
im  Uie 
is  nec- 
tiwhile 
ts  spe- 
which 
lent  or 

'ay  m, 
path 
only 
either 
noble 
;hieve 
es  are 
:e  the 
sist  in 
stance 
reater 
most, 
onous 
ng  so 

ngers. 


i 


— How  delicate  their  touch  !  How  fine  their  sensibility  ! 
It  would  almost  seem  as  though  they  were  endued  with  intel- 
lect, instead  of  being  the  instruments  by  which  the  brain  is 
executing  its  purpose.  And  in  the  nurture  of  the  soul  these 
represent  the  touch  of  the  Spirit  of  God  working  in  us  to 
will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure.  He  is  in  us  all,  his 
one  purpose  being  to  infill  us  with  himself,  and  to  fulfill 
through  us  "all  the  good  pleasure  of  his  goodness,  and 
every  work  of  faith,  with  power ;  that  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  may  be  glorified  in  us,  and  we  in  him." 

But  we  are  too  busy,  too  absorbed  in  many  things,  to 
heed  the  gentle  touch.  Sometimes,  when  we  are  aware  of 
it,  we  resent  it,  or  stubbornly  refuse  to  yield  to  it.  Hence 
the  necessity  of  setting  apart  a  portion  of  every  day,  or  a 
season  in  the  course  of  the  week,  in  which  to  seclude  our- 
selves from  every  other  influence,  and  expose  the  entire 
range  of  our  being  to  divine  influences  only. 

The  wheel  and  the  hand  worked  together ;  often  their 
motion  was  in  opposite  directions,  but  their  object  was 
one.  So  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
love  God.  God's  touch  and  voice  give  the  meaning  of 
his  providences,  and  his  providences  enforce  the  lesson  that 
his  tender  monitions  might  not  be  strong  enough  to  ^each. 
Whenever,  therefore,  you  are  in  doubt  as  to  the  m  ning 
of  certain  circumstances  through  which  you  are  c.  -d  to 
pass,  and  which  are  strange  and  inexplicable,  be  miiI  ;  re- 
frain from  murmuring  or  repining ;  hush  the  mar  voices 
that  would  speak  within,  and  listen  until  there  i^  ome  in 
on  your  soul  a  persuasion  of  God's  purpose,  a  let  his 
Spirit  within  cooperate  with  the  circumstance  without.  It 
is  in  the  equal  working  of  these  two — the  circumstance  sup- 
plying the  occasion  for  manifesting  a  certain  grace,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  supplying  the  grace  to  be  manifested — that  the 
spirit  soars,  as  the  bird  by  the  even  motion  of  its  tv;c  wings. 


i 


Vir 


'ill!] 


86 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


II.  God's  Remaking  of  Men. — "  He  made  it  again." 
The  potter  could  not  make  what  he  might  have  wished, 
but  he  did  his  best  with  his  materials.  So  God  is  ever  try- 
ing to  do  his  best  for  us.  If  v»e  refuse  the  best  he  gives 
the  next  best.  If  we  will  not  be  gold  we  may  be  silver, 
and  if  not  silver  there  are  still  the  earthen  and  the  wood. 
How  often  he  has  to  make  us  again  ! 

He  made  Jacob  again  when  he  met  him  at  the  Jabbok 
ford,  finding  him  a  supplanter  and  a  cheat,  but  after  a  long 
wrestle  leaving  him  a  prince  with  God.  He  made  Simon 
again,  on  the  resurrection  morning,  when  he  found  him 
somewhere  near  the  open  grave,  the  son  of  a  dove — for 
so  his  old  name  "Bar-jona  signifies — and  left  him  Peter, 
the  man  of  the  rock,  the  apostle  of  Pentecost.  He  made 
Mark  again,  between  his  impulsive  leaving  of  Paul  and 
Barnabas,  as  though  frightened  by  the  first  touch  of  sea- 
sickness, and  the  times  when  Peter  spake  of  him  as  his 
son,  and  Paul  from  the  Mamertine  prison  described  him 
as  being  profitable. 

I  have  been  told  of  a  gifted  son  who,  when  night  has 
fallen,  and  his  aged  father  has  gone  to  the  early  couch  of 
age,  comes  into  the  studio  where  the  old  man's  hands  had 
been  busily  engaged  all  day  modeling  clay,  not  without 
some  fear  that  they  are  losing  their  skill,  and  removes  all 
trace  of  senility  or  decay.  So  does  God  come  to  our  work 
when  we  have  done  our  best  and  failed,  and  when  men 
have  turned  from  us  with  disappointment.  He  perfects 
that  which  concerns  us,  because  his  mercy  endures  for- 
ever, and  he  cannot  forsake  the  work  of  his  own  hands. 

Are  you  conscious  of  having  marred  God's  early  plan 
for  yourself  ?  His  ideal  of  a  life  of  earnest  devotion  to 
his  cause  has  been  so  miserably  lost  sight  of.  Your  career 
as  parent  or  child,  as  friend  or  Christian  worker,  has  been 
such  a  failure.    The  grand  chord  struck  in  your  early  vows 


It 


ON  THE  POTTER'S  WHEEL" 


87 


» 


at  the  marriage  altar,  or  on  the  day  of  ordination,  has  been 
lost  beyond  recall ;  and  the  whole  music  has  been  so  halt- 
ing and  feeble.  For  such  science  and  the  competition  of 
modem  life  have  little  encouragement.  There  seems  no 
alternative  but  to  go  off  into  the  rear,  and  let  others  carry 
away  the  prizes  that  come  so  easily  to  them ;  while  into 
the  soul  the  conviction  is  burned :  "  I  had  my  chance  and 
missed  it ;  it  will  never  come  to  me  again.  The  smvival 
of  the  fittest  leaves  no  place  for  the  unfit.  They  must  be 
flung  amid  the  waste  which  is  ever  accumulating  around 
the  furnaces  of  human  life."  It  is  here  that  the  gospel 
comes  in  with  its  gentle  words  for  the  outcast  and  lost. 
The  bruised  reed  is  made  again  into  a  pillar  for  the  temple 
of  God.  The  feebly  smoking  flare  is  kindled  to  a  flame. 
The  waste  products  are  shown  to  be  of  extraordinary  value, 
yielding  the  fairest  colors,  or  providing  the  elementary 
principles  of  life. 


III.  Our  Attitude  toward  the  Great  Potter.— 
Yield  to  him  !  Each  particle  in  the  clay  seems  to  say 
"  Yes  "  to  wheel  and  hand.  And  in  proportion  as  this  is 
the  case  the  work  goes  merrily  on.  If  there  be  rebellion 
and  resistance,  the  work  of  the  potter  is  marred.  Let  God 
have  his  way  with  you.  Let  his  will  be  done  in  you  as  in 
heaven.  Bear  it  even  when  you  cannot  do  it.  Be  sure  and 
say  "  Yes."  There  are  times  when  we  are  not  conscious 
that  he  is  doing  right.  Life  is  often  like  the  gray  aspect 
of  nature  in  February,  when  spring  waits  just  outside  the 
portal  longing  to  touch  all  things  with  her  magic  wand. 
It  seems  as  if  no  one  is  concerned  about  "all  the  miles  ol 
unsprung  wheat,"  or  responsible  for  leaf  or  bud.  Yet  in 
myriads  upon  myriads  of  graves  where  seeds  lie  buried, 
G^d's  angels  are  busily  at  work,  rolling  away  stones  and 
ushering  in  the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth  of  spring. 


"i 


88 


JEREMIAH,  TRJEST  AND  TROPHET 


So  when  we  have  once  committed  otirselves  to  God,  we 
must  believe  that  he  does  not  lose  a  single  moment,  but  is 
ever  hurrying  forward  the  consummation  of  his  ideal. 

We  cannot  always  understand  his  dealings,  because  we 
do  not  know  what  his  purpose  is.  We  fail  to  recognize 
the  design,  the  position  which  we  are  being  trained  to  fill, 
the  ministry  we  are  to  exercise.  What  wonder  then  that 
we  get  puzzled  and  perplexed  !  We  strive  with  our  Maker, 
saying, "  What  makest  thou  ?  "  or, "  He  hath  no  hands."  Yet 
surely  it  is  enough  to  know  our  Guide,  if  we  do  not  know 
which  point  he  is  aiming  for  in  the  long  chain  of  hills.  He 
knows  all  the  mountain  passes,  and  will  take  the  easiest. 

There  is  special  comfort  in  these  thoughts  for  the  middle- 
aged  and  old.  Do  not  look  regretfully  back  on  the  wasted 
springtime  ana  summer,  gone  beyond  recall ;  though  it  be 
autumn  there  is  yet  chance  for  thee  to  bear  some  fruit, 
under  the  care  of  the  great  Husbandman.  In  all  he  in- 
spires hope.  He  can  turn  the  battle  from  the  gate,  and 
make  the  lost  iron  swim,  and  replenish  the  empty  pitchers 
with  new  good  wine,  and  restore  the  years  the  canker- worm 
has  eaten,  and  make  failures  into  victories.  He  who  tvas  able 
to  transform  th?  cross  from  a  badge  of  shame  into  the  sign 
of  victory  and  s^lory  must  surely  be  able  to  take  the  most 
hopeless,  disreputable,  and  abandoned  lives,  and  make  them 
bloom  with  flowers  heavy  widi  fragrance  and  full  of  blessed 
promise.  Only  let  him  ha\  e  a  free  hand.  Whatsoever  he 
says,  do  it,  or  suffer  it  to  be  done.  Seek  forgiveness  for  the 
past,  then  restoration  and  remaking  at  his  hand.  Reckon 
on  God,  and  according  to  your  faith  it  shall  be  done  unto 
you. 


T 


"\^ 


V 


X. 


Qtl)«  Sm  of  4ol]{  Im)inl0e. 

(Jeremiah  xx.  9.) 


There  is  a  stay,  and  we  are  strong  I 

Our  Master  is  at  hand 
To  cheer  oui  solitaiy  song 

And  guide  us  to  the  strand! 
Or  if,  for  our  u^iworthiness, 

Toil,  prayer,  and  watching  fail, 
In  disappointment  thou  canst  bless, 

So  love  at  heart  prevail!" 

JvEBLK* 


im 


m 


■\ 


JEREMlx\H*S  nature  reminds  us  of  the  ^olian  harp, 
whic^  is  so  sensitive  to  the  passing  breeze,  now  wailing 
with  sorrow,  now  jubilant  with  song :  so  delicately  strung, 
so  sympathetic,  so  easily  affected  by  every  passing  circum- 
stance, was  the  soul  of  the  prophet.  The  whole  book  mir- 
rors the  changefulness  of  his  mood,  as  the  ocean  the  per- 
petjaal  heavens  outspread  above  ii-"-now  blue  as  the  azure 
^y,  and  again  dark  with  the  brood:.ng  storm. 

There  are  many  indications  of  this  in  the  chapters  before 
us.  For  instance  there  is  the  exclamation,  "  Cursed  be  the 
day  wherein  I  was  bom.  .  .  .  Cursed  be  the  man  who  brought 
tidings  to  my  father,  saying,  A  man-child  is  bom  unto 
thee.  .  .  .  Wherefore  was  I  bora  to  see  labor  and  sorrow?  " 
(xx.  14-18).  But  in  the  same  breath  there  is  the  heroic 
outburst,  "  The  Lord  is  with  me  as  a  mighty  one  and  ter- 

89 


1' 


90 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


rible ;  therefore  my  persecutors  shall  stumble,  and  they  shall 
not  prevail"  (xx.  ii).  How  great  the  contrast  between 
these  moods  !  In  the  first  he  is  traversing  the  valley  of 
the  shadow,  where  the  dark  trees  shut  out  the  sky,  and  the 
swollen  torrent  rushes  turbidly  through  the  gorge ;  in  the 
second  he  stands  upon  the  heights  where  t!ie  sun  shines, 
and  to  the  far  horizon  the  landscape  lies  ou*.spread,  its  corn- 
fields goldening  in  the  summer  sm. 

The  samt  contrast  appears  in  this  verse.  There  we  find 
the  half-formed  resolution  to  make  no  further  mention  of 
God,  and  to  speak  no  more  in  his  name.  Then  he  is  in- 
stantly aware  of  his  inability  to  control  the  passionate  out- 
burst of  the  Spirit  within.  "  I'here  is  in  mine  heart  as  it 
were  a  burning  fire  shut  up  in  my  bones,  and  I  am  weary 
with  forbearing,  and  I  cannot  contain  "  (r.v.).  Oh,  won- 
derful heart  of  man  !  who  can  understand  thee,  who  can 
estimate  the  heights  to  which  thou  canst  rise,  or  the  depths 
to  which  thou  canst  sink  ?  What  an  infinitude  of  bliss 
and  of  sorrow  is  within  thy  compass  !  How  radiant  thy 
heavens,  how  dark  thine  abyss  !  It  is  well  for  us  when  we 
learn  to  distinguish  between  the  life  of  our  emotions  and 
that  of  our  will,  and  resolve  to  live  no  more  iri  mood  or 
emotion,  but  to  build  the  edifice  of  our  Ufe  upon  the  gran- 
ite of  the  obedient  will. 

I.  The  CikcuMSTANCEs  out  of  which  these  Words 
Sprang. — Jeremiah^ s  Half-formed  Resolution. — "  I  will  not 
make  mention  of  Him,  nor  speak  any  more  in  His  name." 
Not  improbably  by  this  time  Nineveh  had  fallen.  For  six 
hundred  years  she  had  ruled  surrounding  nations  with  a  rod 
of  iron  tyranny,  exerting  an  imperial  sway  with  merciless 
cruelty.  At  last  her  time  had  come.  A  vast  host  gath- 
ered from  Asia  Minor  as  far  as  the  shores  of  the  Black 
Sea,  from  the  entire  valley  of  the  Tigris,  from  Armenia, 


THE  FIRE  OF  HOLY  IMPULSE 


9« 


>» 


Assyria,  and  the  wandering  tribes  of  the  desert,  and  set- 
tled down  on  her  as  swarms  of  hornets  on  a  putrid  carcass. 
For  two  years  the  siege  had  lasted  under  the  direction  of 
the  trusted  general  of  the  last  king  of  Nineveh,  Nabopo- 
lassar,  whose  son,  Neb  uchadnezzar,  was  destined  to  be  the 
"hammer  of  God."  Rumors  of  this  catastrophe  were 
spreading  through  the  world,  carrying  everywhere  a  sense 
of  relief  and  foreboding — relief  that  the  tyrant  was  down, 
foreboding  as  to  who  should  take  his  place. 

At  this  time  Egypt  was  in  the  zenith  of  her  power. 
Amid  the  decrepitude  of  Nineveh,  Pharaoh  had  seized  the 
opportunity  of  extending  his  empire  to  the  banks  of  the 
Tigris.  The  kingdom  of  Judah,  like  all  neighboring  nations, 
owned,  at  least  nominally,  the  king  of  Egypt  as  suzerain. 
Confidence  in  the  proximity  and  prowess  of  his  great  ally 
encouraged  Jehoiakim  in  his  career  of  shameless  idolatry 
and  sin.    The  whole  land,  as  we  have  seen,  was  corrupt. 

Jeremiah,  the  foremost  of  the  little  band  thi  t  remained 
true  to  the  best  traditions  of  the  past,  never  lost  an  oppor- 
tunity of  lodging  his  complaint  or  striving  to  resist  the  down- 
ward progress  of  his  people.  In  doing  this  he  aroused  an 
ever-growing  weight  of  opposition.  The  plot  of  his  native 
town  of  Anathoth  was  the  first  volcanic  outburst,  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  long  series  of  plots  and  snares  and  manifesta- 
tions of  hatred  on  the  part  of  those  for  whom  he  would 
have  gladly  given  his  life  as  he  daily  gave  his  prayers. 
He  sat  alone,  cast  out  by  prophet  and  priest,  by  court  and 
people. 

"  Come,"  they  said  on  one  occasion,  "  and  let  us  devise 
devices  against  Jeremiah ;  for  the  law  shall  not  perish  from 
the  priest,  nor  counsel  from  the  wise,  nor  the  word  from 
the  prophet."  He  was  a  laughing-stock  all  the  day.  Every 
one  mocked  him.  The  word  of  the  Lord  was  made  a  re- 
proach to  him  and  a  derision  continually.      His  associates 


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JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


and  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  watched  for  his 
halting,  and  whispered  that  peradventure  he  would  be  en- 
ticed so  that  they  should  prevail  against  him  and  take  their 
revenge  on  him. 

Matters  culminated  finally  in  the  episode  of  chapters  xix. 
and  XX.  Beneath  a  divine  impulse  he  procured  a  com- 
mon earthen  bottle,  and  gathering  a  number  of  the  elders, 
led  them  forth  into  the  Valley  of  Hinnom,  beside  the  gate 
of  the  potsherds.  On  this  spot  the  refuse  of  the  city  was 
perpetually  exposed  to  the  foul  birds  and  the  wild  dogs. 
It  was  a  place  of  abhorring  and  loathsomeness.  There 
he  uttered  a  long  and  terrible  indictment  of  the  sins  of  his 
people,  accompanying  it  with  predictions  of  the  certain 
and  irrevocable  doom  to  which  they  were  hurrying.  The 
men  of  Jerusalem  would  fall  there  by  the  sword  before 
their  enemies ;  in  the  straitness  of  the  siege  they  would  eat 
the  flesh  of  their  sons  and  their  daughters.  The  city  itself 
would  fall  into  ruins  of  blackened  stones,  and  the  surround- 
ing valley  be  filled  with  the  carcasses  of  the  slain  making 
banquet  for  the  fowls  of  the  heaven  and  the  beasts  of  the 
earth.  To  emphasize  his  words  he  broke  the  potter's  ves- 
sel, pouring  forth  its  contents  in  token  that  the  blood  of  his 
countr3rmen  would  be  shed  to  bedew  and  saturate  the  soil. 

Not  satisfied  with  this,  he  returned  from  Tophet  and 
stood  in  the  court  of  the  Temple,  perhaps  on  the  steps  that 
led  up  to  the  court  of  the  priests.  Crowds  of  people  were 
probably  at  the  time  engaged  in  some  sacred  rite ;  it  may 
have  been  the  time  of  one  of  the  great  feasts.  When  his 
voice  was  heard,  a  vast  concourse  must  have  gathered, 
whose  angry  faces  and  vehement  gestures  indicated  the  in- 
tensity of  their  dislike  to  the  man  who  cast  the  shadow  of 
impending  destruction  over  their  gayest  hours.  The  en- 
durance of  one  of  them  at  least  had  at  last  reached  its 
limit.    Pashur,  the  chief  governor  of  the  Temple,  to  whose 


THE  FIRE  OF  HOLY  IMPULSE 


93 


jurisdiction  its  order  was  intrusted,  gathering  a  band  of 
Levites  or  Temple  servants,  seized  the  prophet,  threw  him 
on  the  pavement,  scourged  him  after  the  Eastern  fashion, 
and  finally  thrust  him  into  the  stocks,  leaving  him  there 
the  whole  night,  to  the  ridicule  and  hatred  of  the  populace, 
to  the  cold  night  and  the  prowling  dogs. 

In  the  morning  Fashur  appears  to  have  repented  of  his 
harsh  treatment,  and  to  have  released  the  prophet,  whose 
strong  spirit  was  not  for  a  moment  cowed  by  the  indignity 
and  torture  to  which  he  had  been  exposed.  Turning  on 
his  persecutor,  he  told  him  that  he  would  live  to  be  a  ter- 
ror to  himself  and  all  his  friends ;  that  all  Judah  would  be 
given  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  now  men- 
tioned for  the  first  time ;  that  the  people  would  be  carried 
captives  to  Babylon,  and  slain  there  with  the  sword ;  and 
that  all  the  riches  and  gains  of  the  city,  and  all  the  pre- 
cious things  thereof,  and  all  the  treasures  of  the  king  of 
Judah,  should  be  given  into  the  hand  of  their  enemies  to 
carry  to  Babylon.  It  is  this  fourfold  mention  of  Babylon 
that  gives  color  to  th?  suggestion  that  Nineveh  had  fallen, 
and  that  the  strong  hand  of  Nabopolassar  and  his  son  was 
beginning  to  show  itself,  and  to  wield  the  scepter  which 
was  falling  from  the  faltering  grasp  of  one  of  the  oldest 
and  greatest  empires  of  antiquity. 

Set  free,  Jeremiah  went  to  his  home,  and  there  poured 
forth  that  marvelous  combination  of  heroic  faith  and  wail- 
ing grief  which  is  recorded  for  us  that  we  may  know  the 
weakness  of  his  nature  and  learn  how  earthen  was  the  ves- 
sel in  which  God  had  placed  his  heavenly  treasure.  No 
brazen  wall  was  he,  but  a  reed  shaken  by  the  wind ;  no 
wise,  strong  hero,  but  a  child.  What  he  did  and  said  when 
face  to  face  with  his  age  was  due  to  no  native  strength  or 
heroism;  as  he  says  himself,  his  was  "the  soul  of  the 
needy"  (verse  13,  R.V.). 


W 


<#  ■ 


m 


94 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


What  a  tale  could  be  told  by  the  walls  of  the  secret 
chambers  of  God's  greatest  saints!  What  litanies  of  tears 
and  sighs  and  broken  sentences  have  beaten  against  them 
in  successive  billows  of  heart-rending  sorrow !  Take,  for 
instance,  that  outburst  of  Luther  on  the  eve  of  his  appear- 
ance Itefore  the  Diet  of  Worms.  Those  who  have  seemed 
strongest  and  most  rock-like  in  the  presence  of  their  fellows 
have  sunk  most  helplessly  on  the  ground  in  solitude,  con- 
fessing that  none  were  so  weak  and  helpless  as  they. 

Our  prophet  seems  to  have  gone  even  farther.  Then 
came  a  suggestion  to  his  heart  that  he  should  relinquish  his 
labors  and  renounce  public  for  private  life.  Why  struggle 
any  more  against  the  inevitable  ?  Why  set  himself  to  con- 
vince those  who  would  not  be  convinced,  and  who  repaid 
his  love  with  hate?  Why  surrender  name  and  comfort 
and  human  love  for  the  thankless  task  of  endeavoring  to 
stem  his  people's  career  ?  He  came  to  the  point  of  say- 
ing, "  Send  whom  thou  wilt  send ;  intrust  thy  commission 
to  some  stronger  soul,  cast  in  a  more  heroic  mold ;  let  me 
go  back  to  the  seclusion  and  humble  toils  of  my  village 
home." 

Not  dissimilar  have  been  the  appeals  of  God's  servants 
in  every  age,  when  they  have  measured  their  weakness 
against  the  strength  of  the  evils  they  have  combated,  and 
have  marked  their  limited  success:  the  handfuls  of  seed 
wasted  upon  barren  soil ;  tlie  word  spoken  in  the  ear  of 
the  wind ;  the  futility  of  opposing  an  Ahab  or  a  Jezebel ; 
the  ingratitude  of  those  whom  they  would  have  gladly 
saved.  They  have  been  disposed  to  cry  with  the  greatest 
of  the  prophets,  "  It  is  enough ;  let  me  die  1 " 


II.  The  Irresistible  Impulse. — "There  is  in  mine 
heart  as  it  were  a  burning  fire  shut  up  in  my  bones,  and 
I  am  weary  with  forbearing,  and  I  cannot  contain."    "  O 


THE  FIRE  OF  HOLY  IMPULSE 


95 


Lord,  .  .  .  thou  art  stronger  than  X,  and  hast  prevailed." 
Three  things  arrest  us  here. 

(i)  The  PropheVs  Habit  of  Turning  from  Man  to  God. — 
Throughout  the  book  there  are  so  many  indications  of  the 
close  fellowship  in  which  he  lived  with  Jehovah.  God 
seemed  always  nigh  at  hand.  His  ear  always  bent  down 
to  the  least  whisper  of  his  servant's  need.  Compelled  to 
live  much  alone,  this  much-suffering  man  acquired  the 
habit  of  counting  on  the  companionship  of  God  as  one  of 
the  undoubted  facts  of  his  life.  He  poured  into  the  ear 
of  God  every  thought  as  it  passed  through  his  soul.  He 
spread  forth  his  roots  by  the  river  of  God,  which  is  full  of 
water.  There  was  no  fear,  therefore,  that  his  leaf  would 
become  sere  in  the  summer  heat,  or  that  he  would  cease 
from  yielding  fruit  in  the  year  of  drought.  The  Lord  was 
his  strength,  his  stronghold,  and  his  refuge  in  the  day  of 
afHiction,  and  to  him  he  opened  his  cause.  "  Heal  me,  O 
Lord,  and  I  shall  be  healed;  save  me,  and  I  shall  be 
saved :  for  thou  art  my  praise.  .  .  .  Let  me  not  be  dis- 
mayed or  ashamed"  (xvii.  14-18). 

Let  us  seek  this  attitude  of  soul,  which  easily  turns 
from  man  to  God ;  not  foregoing  the  hours  of  prolonged 
fellowship,  but,  in  addition,  acquiring  the  habit  of  talking 
over  our  life  with  One  who  does  not  need  to  be  informed 
of  what  transpires,  but  awaits  with  infinite  desire  to  receive 
the  confidence  of  his  children.  Talk  over  each  detail  of 
your  life  with  God,  telling  him  all  things,  and  finding  the 
myriad  needs  of  the  soul  satisfied  in  him. 

(2)  The  Burning  Fire, — ^We  have  sometimes  seen  a  little 
steamer,  like  "  The  Maid  of  the  Mist "  at  the  foot  of  the 
Falls  of  Niagara,  resisting  and  gaining  upon  a  stormy  tor- 
rent madly  rushing  past  her.  Slowly  she  has  worked  her 
way  through  the  mad  rush  of  waters,  defying  their  attempt 
to  bear  her  back,  calmly  and  serenely  pursuing  her  onward 


%:i 


0 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


course,  without  being  turned  aside,  driven  back,  or  dis- 
mayed. And  why  ?  Because  a  burning  fire  is  shut  up  in 
her  heart,  and  her  engines  cannot  stay,  because  impelled 
in  their  strong  and  regular  motion.  Similarly,  within  Jere- 
miah's heart  a  fire  had  been  lit  from  the  heart  of  God,  and 
was  kept  aflame  by  the  continual  fuel  heaped  on  it.  The 
difficulty,  therefore,  with  him  was,  not  in  speaking,  but  in 
keeping  silent — not  in  acting,  but  in  refraining. 

This  sheds  some  light  upon  the  prophetic  impulse,  and 
helps  us  to  understand  what  the  Apostle  Peter  meant  when 
he  said,  "Holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  oome 
along  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  It  was  as  though  the  cur- 
rent of  thought  and  feeling  came  mightily  from  without, 
and,  passing  through  them,  swept  them  forward  irresistibly. 
In  this  way  it  often  happened  that  the  prophets  did  not 
understand  words  which  were  put  into  their  hearts  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  of  whose  full  meaning  they  were  ignorant. 

But,  after  all,  our  main  desire  is  to  know  how  we  may 
have  this  heart  on  fire.  We  are  tired  of  a  cold  heart  to- 
ward God.  We  complain  because  of  our  sense  of  effort 
in  Christian  life  and  duty ;  we  would  fain  learn  the  secret 
of  being  so  possessed  by  the  Spirit  and  thought  of  God 
that  we  might  be  daunted  by  no  opposition,  abashed  by 
no  fear.  The  source  of  the  inward  fire  is  the  love  of  God, 
shed  abroad  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  not  primarily  our  love  to 
God,  but  our  sense  of  his  love  to  us.  The  coals  of  juniper 
that  gave  so  fierce  a  heat  to  the  heart  of  a  Rutherford  were 
brought  from  the  altar  of  the  heart  of  God.  If  we  set 
ourselves  with  open  face  toward  the  cross,  which,  like  a 
burning  lens,  focuses  the  love  of  God,  and  if,  at  the  same 
time,  we  reckon  upon  the  Holy  Spirit — ^well  called  the 
Spirit  of  Burning — to  do  his  wonted  office,  we  shall  find 
the  ice  that  cakes  the  surface  of  our  heart  dissolving  in 
tears  of  penitence,  and  presently  the  sacred  fire  will  begin 


THE  FIRE  OF  HOLY  IMPULSE 


97 


to  glow.  Then  the  love  of  Christ  will  constrain  us.  Whether 
we  be  beside  ourselves  or  be  sober  will  not  be  the  subject 
of  our  consideration ;  but  his  Spirit,  the  thought  of  what 
he  desires,  the  passion  of  fulfilling  his  will,  will  destroy  the 
fire  of  self-esteem,  and  replace  it  with  the  sacred  fire  of 
passionate  devotion. 

When  that  love  has  once  begun  to  burn  within  the  soul, 
when  once  the  baptism  of  fire  has  set  us  aglow,  the  sins 
and  sorrows  of  men — their  impieties  and  blasphemies,  their 
disregard  of  God,  of  his  service  and  of  his  day,  their  blind 
courting  of  danger,  their  dalliance  with  evil — will  only  incite 
in  us  a  more  ardent  spirit.  To  see  the  multitudes  rushing 
to  destruction,  to  hear  the  boast  of  the  blasphemer,  the 
taunt  of  the  infidel,  the  cry  of  the  oppressed,  the  ribald 
mirth  of  the  profane,  the  desecration  of  all  that  is  holiest 
and  best  in  man ;  to  think  of  the  grief  caused  to  the  Spirit 
of  God,  the  dishonor  done  to  him ;  to  anticipate  the  outer 
darkness,  the  undying  worm,  the  bottomless  pit — surely 
these  will  be  enough  to  fan  the  smoldering  embers  till  they 
break  out  in  the  least  emotional ;  as  when  Jeremiah  said 
that  he  felt  an  inner  impulse,  to  restrain  which  was  a  weari- 
ness, to  stay  from  obeying  which  was  a  sin. 

(3)  The  Prophefs  Safety. — "The  Lord  is  with  me  as  a 
mighty  one  and  terrible;  therefore  my  persecutors  shall 
stumble,  and  they  shall  not  prevail."  The  presence  of  God 
is  salvation.  When  Ezekiel  describes  the  plot  of  Edom  to 
possess  herself  of  the  land  of  the  chosen  people,  he  indi- 
cates by  a  single  phrase  the  futility  of  the  attempt,  saying  sig- 
nificantly, "Whereas  the  Lord  was  there"  (Ezek.  xxxv.  10). 
It  was  enough,  though  Israel  was  in  exile,  that  God's  Spirit 
was  brooding  over  their  desolate  land.  He  guarded  its 
frontiers  and  filled  its  vacant  spaces,  and  could  not  be  dis- 
possessed. His  presence  made  every  attempt  to  capture 
it  abortive. 


■|! 


9*  JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 

Thus  Jeremiah  felt.  He  might  be  the  weakest  of  the 
weak,  having  neither  might,  nor  wisdom,  nor  power  of 
speech,  apparently  the  easy  prey  of  Pashur  and  Jehoiakim ; 
but  since  God  was  with  him,  casting  the  mantle  of  his  pro- 
tection around  his  servant,  and  pledging  himself  to  be  his 
stronghold  and  house  of  defence,  he  was  invulnerable. 

O  weak  and  trembling  soul,  if  thou  art  true  to  God,  God 
is  with  thee,  besetting  thee  behind  and  before,  ancl  cover- 
ing thee  with  the  hoUow  of  his  hand.  Thou  shalt  be  like 
the  city  of  the  great  King— the  kings  may  assemble,  but 
so  soon  as  they  see  thee  they  shall  be  stricken  with  terror 
and  pass  away,  while  thou  shalt  be  a  quiet  habitation,  a 
tent  that  shall  not  be  removed,  the  stakes  whereof  shall 
never  be  plucked,  neither  shall  any  of  the  cords  thereof  be 
broken.  "This  God  is  our  God  forever  and  ever:  he  will 
be  our  guide  even  forevermore  "  (Ps.  xlviii.  14,  r.v.,  marg.). 


XL 
Slffliction0,  I!9i0t»00e0,  Ciim]iU0. 

(Jeremiah  xxvi.) 

"  I  see  the  wrong  that  round  me  lies, 
I  feel  the  guilt  within ; 
I  hear,  with  groan  and  travail-cries, 
The  world  confess  its  sin. 


"  Yet  in  the  maddening  maze  of  things, 
And  tossed  by  storm  and  flood, 
To  one  fixed  stake  my  spirit  clings — 
I  know  that  God  is  good." 

Whittier, 


JEHOIAKIM  was,  perhaps,  the  most  despicable  of  the 
kings  of  Judah.  Josephus  says  that  he  was  unjust  in 
disposition,  an  evil-doer,  neither  pious  toward  God  nor 
just  toward  men.  Something  of  this  may  have  been  due 
to  the  influence  of  his  wife  Nehushta,  whose  father,  Elna- 
than,  was  an  accomplice  in  the  royal  murder  of  Urijah. 
"  Jehoiakim  was  twenty  and  five  years  old  when  he  began  to 
reign,  and  he  reigned  eleven  years  in  Jerusalem :  and  he 
did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  his  God." 
Such  is  the  inspired  epitaph  by  the  chronicler. 

Jeremiah  appears  to  have  been  constantly  in  conflict  with 
this  king,  and  probably  the  earliest  manifestation  of  conflict 
that  could  not  but  subsist  between  two  such  men  occurred 

99 


'h 


5 

.Ji  ill' 


100 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


in  connection  with  the  building  of  Jehoiakim's  palace. 
Though  his  kingdom  was  greatly  impoverished  with  the 
heavy  fine  of  between  forty  and  fifty  thousand  pounds  im- 
posed by  Pharaoh  Necho  after  the  defeat  and  death  of 
Josiah,  and  though  the  times  were  dark  with  portents  of 
approaching  disaster,  yet  he  began  to  rear  a  splendid  pal- 
ace for  himself,  with  spacious  chambers  and  large  windows, 
floors  of  cedar  and  decorations  of  vermilion.  As  Elijah 
confronted  Ahab,  so  did  Jeremiah  confront  the  young  king 
with  his  terrible  woes :  "  Woe  unto  him  that  buildeth  his 
house  by  unrighteousness,  and  his  chambers  by  injustice ; 
that  useth  his  neighbor's  service  without  wages,  and  giveth 
him  not  his  hire.  .  .  .  Thine  eyes  and  thine  heart  are  not 
but  for  thy  dishonest  gain,  and  for  oppression,  and  for  vio- 
lence." He  further  reminded  him  that  the  stability  of 
Josiah's  throne  depended  not  on  the  splendor  of  his  pal- 
ace, but  upon  the  justice  with  which  he  judged  the  cause 
of  the  poor  and  needy  (Jer.  xxii.  13,  etc.). 

Clearly  such  a  monarch  must  have  entertained  a  mortal 
hatred  toward  the  man  who  dared  to  raise  his  voice  in 
denunciation  of  his  crimes ;  and,  like  Herod  with  John  the 
Baptist,  he  would  not  have  scrupled  to  quench  in  blood 
the  light  that  cast  such  strong  condemnation  upon  his 
oppressive  and  cruel  actions.  An  example  of  this  had  been 
recently  afforded  in  the  death  of  Urijah,  who  had  uttered 
solemn  words  against  Jerusalem  and  its  inhabitants  in  the 
same  way  that  Jeremiah  had  done.  Such  fury  had  been 
excited  by  his  words  that  he  had  been  obliged  to  flee  to 
Egypt,  from  whence  the  king  had  secured  his  extradition, 
that  he  might  avenge  his  bold  denunciation  by  the  sword 
and  fling  his  body  into  the  graves  of  the  common  people. 
Small  shrift,  then,  could  be  expected  by  Jeremiah,  if  the 
king  dared  to  take  measures  against  him.  But  it  would 
appear  that  this  time  at  least  his  safety  was  secured  by  the 


AFFLICTIONS,  DISTRESSES,  TUMULTS  lOl 

interposition  of  influential  friends  among  the  aristocracy, 
one  of  whom  was  Ahikam,  the  son  of  Shaphan  (Jer.  xxvi. 
ao-34). 


I 


I.  The  Divine  Commission. — Beneath  the  divine  im- 
pulse Jeremiah  went  up  to  the  coiut  of  the  Lord's  house, 
and  took  his  place  on  some  great  occasion  when  all  the 
cities  of  Judah  had  poured  their  populations  to  worship 
there.  Not  one  word  was  to  be  kept  back.  We  are  all 
more  or  less  conscious  of  these  inward  impulses ;  and  it 
often  becomes  a  matter  of  considerable  difiiculty  to  distin- 
guish whether  they  originate  in  the  energy  of  om*  own 
nature  or  are  the  genuine  outcome  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ. 
It  is  only  in  the  latter  case  that  such  service  can  be  fruit- 
ful. And  here  for  a  moment  we  will  turn  aside  to  see  how 
the  heart  of  man  may  become  the  medium  through  which 
God  can  pour  his  thoughts  on  men,  and  the  way  by  which 
we  may  recognize  his  inward  prompting. 

There  is  no  greater  enemy  of  the  highest  usefulness  than 
the  presence  of  the  flesh  in  our  activities.  There  is  no 
department  of  life  or  service  into  which  its  subtle,  deadly 
influence  does  not  penetrate.  We  have  to  encounter  it  in 
our  unregenerate  life,  when  its  passions  reveal  themselves, 
brooking  no  restraint.  We  meet  it  after  we  have  entered 
upon  the  new  life,  striving  against  the  Spirit,  and  restrain- 
ing his  gracious  energy.  We  are  most  baflled  when  we 
find  it  prompting  to  holy  resolutions,  and  efforts  after  a 
consecrated  life.  The  Apostle  Paul  calls  this  the  unequal 
marriage  of  the  flesh,  or  self-life,  with  the  holy  law  of  God 
— a  union  which  brings  forth  fruit  unto  death.  And,  lastly, 
it  confronts  us  in  Christian  work,  because  there  is  so  much 
of  it  that  in  our  quiet  moments  we  are  bound  to  trace  to  a 
desire  for  notoriety,  to  a  passion  to  excel,  and  to  the  rest- 
lessness of  a  nature  which  evades  questions  in  the  deeper 


^'.«  ;ij 


m 


loa 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


life  by  flinging  itself  into  every  avenue  through  which  it 
may  exert  its  activities. 

There  is  only  one  solution  to  these  difficulties.  By  the 
way  of  the  cross  and  the  grave  we  can  alone  become  dis- 
entangled and  discharged  from  the  insidious  domination  of 
this  evil  principle,  which  is  accursed  by  God,  and  hurtful 
to  holy  living,  as  blight  to  the  tender  fruit.  In  the  cross 
of  Jesus,  when  he  died  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  God 
wrote  his  curse  upon  every  manifestation  of  selfish  and 
fleshly  energy ;  and  now  it  remains  for  each  of  us  to  appro- 
priate that  cross,  to  accept  the  divine  sentence,  to  lie  in 
the  grave  where  the  voices  of  human  ambition  and  adula- 
tion cannot  follow  us,  to  oppose  the  silence  of  death  to  the 
workings  of  our  evil  self.  Not,  however,  to  stay  there ; 
but  to  pass  up  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost  into  the 
pure  resurrection  air  and  light,  where  no  face  is  visible 
but  that  of  the  risen  Saviour,  where  no  voice  is  audible 
save  his,  and  where  in  the  hush  of  perfect  fellowship  the 
spirit  becomes  able  to  discern  the  wish  of  its  Lord. 


II.  The  Message  and  its  Reception. — There  was  a 
twofold  appeal  in  the  words  Jeremiah  was  commissioned 
to  deliver  on  this  great  occasion,  when  the  whole  land 
stood  intent  to  hear.  On  the  one  side,  by  his  lips,  God 
entreated  his  people  to  repent  and  turn  from  their  evil 
ways ;  on  the  other,  he  bade  them  know  that  their  obdu- 
racy would  compel  him  to  make  their  great  national  shrine 
as  complete  a  desolation  as  the  site  of  Shiloh,  which  for 
Ave  hundred  years  had  been  in  ruins.  It  is  impossible  to 
realize  the  intensity  of  passion  which  such  words  evoked. 
They  seemed  to  insinuate  that  Jehovah  could  not  defend 
his  own,  or  that  their  religion  had  become  so  heartless  that 
he  would  not  Prophets  and  priests  had  assured  the  peo- 
ple that  the  very  presence  among  them  of  Jehovah's  Tern* 


AFFUCTIONS,  DISTRESSES,  TUMULTS  103 


pie  was  a  guaranty  of  their  safety,  and  to  suggest  that  a 
fate  might  overtake  them  like  that  which  in  die  days  of 
Samuel  made  the  ears  of  every  listener  to  tingle  seemed  the 
height  of  impertinence.  "  Now  it  came  to  pass,  when  Jere- 
miah had  made  an  end  of  speaking  all  that  the  Lord  had 
commanded  him  to  speak  unto  all  the  people,"  that  he  found 
himself  suddenly  in  the  vortex  of  a  whirlpool  of  popular 
excitement.  Thus  it  befell  Paul  in  after-days,  when  the 
presumption  that  he  had  defiled  the  holy  place  produced 
80  intense  a  paroxysm  of  popular  feeling  that  all  the  citj 
was  moved,  and  the  people  ran  together  and  laid  hold  on 
him,  and  dragged  him  out  of  the  Temple,  so  that  he  was 
with  difficulty  rescued  by  a  regiment  of  Roman  soldiers, 
who  bore  him  by  main  force  from  the  violence  of  the 
crowd,  the  multitude  following  and  crying  out,  "Away 
with  him  !"  (Acts  xxi.  27-36).  There  is  little  doubt  that 
Jeremiah  would  have  met  his  death  in  a  similar  ^meuttf  had 
it  not  been  for  the  prompt  interposition  of  the  princes. 

Such  is  always  the  reception  given  on  the  part  of  man  to 
the  words  of  God.  We  may  gravely  question  how  far  our 
words  are  God's,  when  people  accept  them  quietly  and  as 
a  matter  of  course.  The  Word  of  God  to  those  that  bug 
their  sin  can  only  be  as  fire,  a  hammer,  and  a  sharp,  two- 
edged  sword.  And  here  again  is  a  certain  test  whether 
our  message  is  the  product  of  our  own  fancy,  or  the  burden 
of  the  Lord.  ThaX  which  men  approve  and  applaud  may 
lack  the  King's  seal  and  be  the  substitution  on  the  part  of 
the  messenger  of  tidings  which  he  deems  more  palatable, 
and  therefore  more  likely  to  secure  for  himself  a  larger 
welcome. 


4 


III.  Welcome  Interposition.  —  The  princes  were 
seated  in  the  palace,  and  instantly  on  receiving  tidings  of 
the  outbreak  came  up  to  the  Temple.     Their  presence 


104 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  PROPHET 


stilled  the  excitement,  and  prevented  the  infuriated  people 
from  carrying  out  their  design  upon  the  life  of  the  defence- 
less prophet.  They  hastily  constituted  themselves  into  a 
court  of  appeal,  before  which  prophet  and  people  were 
summoned.  The  priests  and  prophets  acted  as  the  ex- 
ponents of  the  people's  wish,  and  demanded  sentence  of 
death,  turning  from  the  court  to  the  people  to  ask  their 
concurrence.  Then  Jeremiah  stood  on  his  defence.  His 
plea  was  that  he  could  not  but  utter  the  words  with  which 
the  Lord  had  sent  him.  Again  he  called  upon  the  people 
to  amend  their  ways.  He  acknowledged  that  he  was  in 
their  hands,  but  he  warned  them  that  innocent  blood  would 
bring  its  own  Nemesis  upon  them  all,  and  at  the  close 
of  his  address  he  reaffirmed  his  certain  embassage  from 
Jehovah. 

This  bold  and  ingenuous  defence  seems  to  have  turned 
the  scale  in  his  favor.  The  princes  gave  their  verdict : 
"This  man  is  not  worthy  to  die :  for  he  hath  spoken  to 
us  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God."  And  the  fickle 
populace,  swept  hither  and  thither  by  the  wind,  appear  to 
have  passed  over  en  masse  to  the  same  conclusion ;  so  that 
princes  and  people  stood  confederate  against  the  false 
prophets  and  priests.  The  conclusion  thus  gained  was 
further  confirmed  by  the  voice  of  certain  of  the  elders  of 
the  land,  who  had  come  from  all  the  cities  of  Judah,  and 
who  reminded  the  people  that  the  good  King  Hezekiah 
had  acted  very  differently  to  the  prophet  Micah  in  listen- 
ing to  his  remonstrances,  entreating  the  favor  of  the  Lord, 
and  securing  the  reversal  of  the  divine  sentence. 

Thus  does  God  hide  his  faithful  servants  in  the  hollow 
of  his  hand.  No  weapon  that  is  formed  against  them  pros- 
pers. They  are  hidden  in  the  secret  of  his  pavilion  from 
the  strife  of  tongues. 


,^ 


AFFUCTIONS,  DISTRESSES,  TUMULTS  105 


HISTORICAL  CONNECTION. 


Wi 


y 


In  a  previous  chapter  we  saw  that  Egypt  was  mistress 
of  all  lands  from  the  Nile  to  the  Euphrates.  But  as  soon 
as  the  Chaldeans  had  established  their  kingdom  upon  the 
ruins  of  Nineveh,  they  turned  their  attention  to  wrest  from 
Pharaoh  Necho  some  portion  of  his  vast  empire.  Jeremiah 
had  long  before  seen  that  this  would  be  the  case,  and  had 
depicted  in  graphic  imagery  the  scene  and  issue  of  the 
awful  battle  at  Carchemish,  by  the  Euphrates,  where  the 
two  mighty  peoples  wrestled  for  the  supreme  power  of  the 
world. 

He  heard  the  call  to  arms.  He  beheld  the  horses  heav- 
ily armed,  and  the  horsemen  with  flashing  spears  and  coats 
of  mail.  The  Egyptian  hosts,  like  the  Nile  at  flood,  pour 
themselves  against  the  solid  ranks  of  their  foes ;  her  tribu- 
taries from  Cush  and  Put,  together  with  the  Ludim,  famous 
at  handling  the  bow,  strive  in  vain  to  check  the  flight  of 
Egypt's  mighty  men.  They  flee  apace,  and  look  not  back ; 
the  sword  devours  and  drinks  its  fill  of  blood ;  the  cry  of 
the  fugitive  hosts  fills  the  earth  with  clamor ;  and  the  mighty 
stumble,  never  to  rise  (Jer.  xlvi.  i-i  2).  Egypt  never  rallied 
again,  nor  dared  to  do  more  than  strive  against  the  yoke 
that  Nebuchadnezzar,  with  imperial  might,  fastened  upon 
her. 

After  this  there  was  nothing  to  stay  the  onset  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, who  probably  had  been  associated  in  the  king- 
dom with  his  aged  father,  and  the  first  year  of  whose  reign 
would  therefore  coincide  with  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim 
(Jer.  XXV.  i).  Like  a  leopard,  to  use  the  expression  of 
Habakkuk,  who  at  this  time  was  beginning  to  exercise  his 
ministry,  the  young  king  leaped  upon  the  peoples  that  had 
been  subject  to  Egypt  and  had  aided  in  her  expedition. 


%' 


'  M 


io6 


JEREMlAHf  TRJEST  AND  TROPHET 


And,  as  the  tidings  of  his  prowess  spread  through  the 
ivorld,  Jeremiah  foretold  that  he  would  be  the  scourge  of 
God  to  punish  he  abounding  wickedness  of  the  peoples : 
"  I  will  send  unto  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  king  of  Babylon, 
my  servant,  and  will  bring  him  against  this  land,  and  against 
the  inhabitants  thereof,  and  against  all  these  nations  round 
about,  and  will  utterly  destroy  them,  and  make  them  an 
astonishment,  and  a  hissing,  and  perpetual  desolations.  .  .  . 
And  this  whole  land  shall  be  a  desolation,  and  an  astonish- 
ment ;  and  these  nations  shall  serve  the  king  of  Babylon 
seventy  years." 

In  his  first  invasion  of  Judah  the  king  of  Babylon  con- 
tented himself  with  binding  Jehoiakim  in  fetters  to  carry 
him  to  Babylon,  though  he  seems  afterward  to  have  changed 
his  intention,  and  to  have  restored  him  to  his  throne  as  his 
vassal,  taking  an  oath  of  allegiance  (Ezek.  xvii.  12,  13). 
He  stripped  the  Tempk  of  its  precious  vessels  to  enrich 
the  house  of  his  god  at  Babylon,  and  carried  into  captivity 
several  of  the  mighty  of  the  land,  among  them  Daniel  and 
his  three  friends  (Dan.  i.  i,  2).  He  then  hastened  back  to 
Babylon,  summoned  thither  by  the  tidings  of  the  death  of 
his  father,  Nabopolassar. 

For  three  years  Jehoiakim  remained  faithful  to  his  oath 
(2  Kings  xxiv.  i);  then  he  was  deluded  by  the  hope  of 
independence,  based  on  the  hope  of  forming  a  confedera- 
tion of  neighboring  peoples.  Messengers  went  to  and  fro 
between  himself  and  Pharaoh,  negotiating  for  horses  and 
much  people ;  though  all  the  while  Ezekiel  and  Jeremiah 
protested  that  Jehovah  would  certainly  punish  him  for  vio- 
lating his  pledge  to  the  king  of  Babylon.  This  was  a  time 
of  unusual  activity  for  the  prophets  of  Jehovah,  who  strove 
their  utmost  to  avert  a  political  mistake,  founded  upon  a 
moral  obliquity,  and  sure  to  incur  terrible  vengeance 
(Ezek.  xvii.  15-21). 


AFFLICTIONS,  DISTRESSES,  TUMULTS  107 

It  befell  as  they  feared.  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  was  not 
prepared  to  brook  such  mfidelity  on  the  part  of  a  sub- 
ject king,  soon  put  his  forces  in  motion,  and  prepared  to 
advance  across  the  desert  to  punish  the  weak  and  faithless 
Jehoiakim.  It  was  during  his  march  on  Jerusalem  that  the 
incidents  narrated  in  the  two  following  chapters  took  place 
— the  one  the  proclamation  of  a  fast,  the  other  the  gathering 
of  the  Rechabites,  with  other  fugitives,  into  the  shelter  of 
the  city. 

We  have  no  certain  clew  to  the  prophet's  history  during 
these  three  or  four  years.  His  heart  must  have  been  filled 
with  the  patriot's  anguish  as  he  saw  the  coils  of  invasion 
drawn  closer  around  the  devoted  city.  To  him,  indeed,  it 
was  the  year  of  drought,  and  there  was  no  hope  save  in 
God ;  and  often  upon  his  lips  must  have  been  words  like 
those  which  the  great  Florentine  addressed  to  the  city 
which  he  loved  with  the  passionate  affection  which  the 
Jews  always  cherished  toward  Jerusalem:  "Thy  sins,  O 
Florence,  are  the  cause  of  these  stripes.  But  now  repent, 
offer  prayers,  become  united.  I  have  wearied  myself  all 
the  days  of  my  life  to  make  known  to  thee  the  truths  of 
the  faith  and  of  holy  living,  and  I  have  had  nothing  but 
tribulations,  derision,  and  reproach." 


I 


\\ 


XII. 
Cl)e  MnhtitrnttibU  taotb. 

(Jeremiah  xxxvi.  23.) 

"  Trnth,  crashed  to  earth,  shall  rise  again  i 
The  eternal  years  of  God  are  hers ; 
Bat  error,  vanquished,  writhes  in  pain. 
And  dies  amid  her  worshipers." 

WE  are  admitted  to  the  prophet's  private  chamber, 
where  he  is  keeping  close  that  he  may  not  excite 
the  acute  animosity  and  hatred  of  the  people.  Baruch,  his 
trusted  friend,  a  man  of  rank  and  learning,  sits  writing  with 
laborious  care  at  the  dictation  of  the  prophet,  whose  soul 
is  borne  along  by  the  impulse  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  "  Tell  us 
now,"  the  princes  said  afterward  to  Baruch, "  How  didst  thou 
write  all  these  words  at  his  mouth  ?  "  Then  Baruch  answered 
them,  "  He  pronounced  all  these  words  unto  me  with  his 
mouth,  and  I  wrote  them  with  ink  in  the  book." 

When  the  roil  was  filled,  Jeremiah,  not  venturing  to  go 
into  places  of  pubHc  concourse,  intrusted  it  to  Baruch,  and 
bade  him  read  it  to  the  assembled  crowds.  Jerusalem  just 
then  was  unusually  full.  From  all  parts  of  Judah  people 
had  come  to  observe  the  great  fast  which  had  been  pro- 
claimed in  view  of  the  approach  of  the  Babylonian  army. 
Adopting  the  cry  which  Jeremiah  had  so  fervently  depre- 
cated, "  The  Temple  of  the  Lord,  The  Temple  of  the  Lord, 
i  imagining  that  there  was  a  special  virtue  in 
108 


tt 


THE  INDESTRUCTIBLE  IVORD 


109 


.\ 


the  Temple  precincts^  the  multitudes  had  crowded  thither 
in  an  agony  of  fear,  hoping  by  their  black  veils  and  covered 
lips  and  heart-rending  cries  to  propitiate  the  Abnighty  and 
avert  the  fate  that  seemed  imminent. 

Choosing  a  position  in  the  upper  court  at  the  entry  of 
the  new  gate  to  the  Lord's  house,  Baruch  commenced  to 
read,  while  the  people  stood  densely  massed  around  him. 
Amid  the  awestruck  crowd  was  a  young  man,  Michaiah,  the 
grandson  of  Shaphan,  who  was  so  impressed  and  startled 
by  what  he  heard  that  he  hastened  to  acquaint  ^he 
princes,  then  sitting  in  council  in  the  chamber  of  the  chief 
secretary  of  state,  in  the  royal  palace.  They  in  turn  were 
so  aroused  by  what  he  told  them  that  they  sent  him  back 
to  the  Temple,  and  asked  Baruch  to  come  without  delay 
and  read  the  prophet's  words  to  them.  He  came  at  their 
request,  and  sitting  among  them  commenced  to  read. 

In  the  group  of  princes  were  several  notable  men :  Elish- 
ama,  the  secretary  of  state ;  Elnathan,  the  father-in-law  of 
the  king,  who  had  brought  the  prophet  Urijah  back  from 
Egypt  to  die ;  and  others.  A  great  fear  fell  upon  them 
as  they  heard  those  ominous  words,  which  were  probably 
closely  similar  to  those  recorded  in  the  twenty-fifth  chap- 
ter of  this  book.  Though  they  had  joined  in  the  general 
hatred  of  the  prophet,  they  were  deeply  sensible  that  there 
was  everything  to  justify  him  in  his  prognostications  of 
coming  trouble ;  and  it  seemed  their  plain  duty  to  acquaint 
the  king  with  the  contents  of  the  roll. 

Before  doing  so,  however,  they  counseled  Baruch  and 
Jeremiah  to  conceal  themselves,  for  they  well  knew  the 
despotic  and  passionate  temper  of  Jehoiakim ;  and  the  roll 
was  left  in  the  chamber  of  Elishama.  It  would  appear 
that  in  the  first  instance  they  thought  a  verbal  statement 
of  the  words  they  had  heard  would  suffice.  This,  however, 
would  not  satisfy  the  king,  who  bade  Jehudi  fetch  the  roll 


I 
if 


\m 


jpfir 


ii 


lirfl 


'>  MS 


no 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


itself.  It  was  winter,  the  month  of  December ;  the  king 
was  occupying  the  winter-quarters  of  his  palace,  and  a  fire 
was  burning  brightly  in  the  brazier.  It  is  a  vivid  picture — 
the  king  sitting  before  the  fire ;  the  princes  standing  around 
him ;  Jehudi  reading  the  contents  of  the  roll ;  consternation 
and  panic  reigning  throughout  the  city  and  darkening  the 
faces  of  the  prostrate  crowds  in  the  Temple  courts.  As 
Jehudi  began  to  read,  the  royal  brow  knit,  and  symptoms 
of  a  tempest  of  anger  showed  themselves.  After  the  scribe 
had  read  three  or  four  columns,  Jehoiakim  snatched  the 
roll  from  his  hand,  and,  demanding  the  penknife  which  he 
carried  as  symbol  and  implement  of  his  calling,  began  to 
cut  the  manuscript  in  pieces,  which  he  flung  contemptu- 
ously into  the  fire.  The  worst  have  some  compunctions, 
and  for  the  most  passionate  there  are  warning  voices  that 
remonstrate  and  plead.  So  was  it  with  King  Jehoiakim. 
Delaiah,  Gemai.  h,  and  even  Elnathan  tried  to  dissuade 
him  from  his  purpose,  but  in  vain.  Nothing  could  stop 
him  until  the  whole  roll  was  cut  to  pieces,  and  every  frag- 
ment consumed.  Not  content  with  this  flagrant  act  of  de- 
fiance, he  gave  orders  for  the  immediate  arrest  of  Jeremiah 
and  Baruch — an  order  which  his  emissaries  attempted  to 
execute,  but  in  vain. 

The  destruction  of  the  roll  did  not,  however,  cancel  the 
terrible  doom  to  which  the  ship  of  state  was  hurrying, 
under  the  orders  of  its  passionate  and  wicked  captain. 
On  another  roll  all  the  words  of  the  book  which  he  had 
burned  were  written  again,  and  others  were  added,  foretell- 
ing the  indignity  and  insult  to  which  the  dead  body  of  the 
king  would  be  exposed.  "His  dead  body  shall  be  cast 
out  in  the  day  to  the  heat,  and  in  the  night  to  the  frost." 


I.  Eyes  Opened  to  See. — There  was  a  vast  difference 
between  Baruch,  whose  heart  was  in  perfect  sympathy  with 


THE  INDESTRUCTIBLE  IVORD 


III 


Jeremiah,  and  Jehudi  or  the  princes.  But  there  was  al- 
most as  much  between  the  faithful  scribe  and  the  Heaven- 
illumined  prophet.  The  one  could  only  write  as  the  words 
streamed  from  those  burning  lips ;  he  saw  nothing,  he  real- 
ized nothing ;  to  him  the  walls  of  the  chamber  were  the 
utmost  bound  of  vision :  while  the  other  beheld  the  whole 
landscape  of  truth  outspread  before  him,  the  rocks  and 
shoals  on  the  margin  of  the  ocean,  the  inrolling  storm-bil- 
lows tipped  with  angry  foam,  the  gathering  clouds,  the 
ship  straining  in  every  timber  and  driving  sheer  on  the 
shore.  For  Jeremiah  the  walls  of  the  chamber  where  they 
sat  together  were  as  though  they  had  become  transparent ; 
he  looked  through  and  beyond  them,  and  read  off  his  mes- 
sage from  what  he  saw,  as  a  man  might  read  from  a  book. 

This  was  the  work  of  the  Spirit  who  inspired  him,  and 
whose  special  function  it  was  to  open  the  eye  of  the  seers 
of  the  old  time  to  the  great  facts  of  the  unseen  and  eternal 
world,  which  were  shortly  to  be  reduplicated  in  the  world 
of  the  temporal  and  visible.  They  beheld  visions  of  God : 
the  sapphire  throne  upborne  by  the  strong  cherubim ;  the 
terrible  wheels  of  providence ;  the  rise  and  fall  of  mighty 
empures ;  the  subdual  of  sin  and  pain  by  the  mighty  sway 
of  the  coming  One.  To  speak  what  he  knew,  and  to  tes- 
tify what  he  had  seen — ^such  was  the  mission  of  the  prophet. 

In  our  case  there  is  no  likelihood  of  this.  Yet  men 
may  be  seers  still.  Two  men  may  sit  together  side  by 
side.  The  veil  of  sense  may  hang  darkly  before  the  one, 
while  for  the  other  it  is  rent  in  twain  from  the  top  to  the 
bottom.  Tliere  no  thought,  no  ambition,  no  desire  for 
aught  beyond  the  temporal  and  seen ;  but  here  the  vision 
of  the  presence  and  care  of  God,  of  the  principalities  and 
powers  in  the  heavenlies,  of  the  ministry  of  angels  and  the 
opposition  of  fiends,  of  the  chariots  and  horses  of  salvation, 
of  the  prize  and  crown,  of  the  awards  of  Christ's  judgment- 


3;i 


in 


i     i 


112 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


seat,  and  the  home  beyond  the  river.  Flesh  and  blood  do 
not  reveal  such  things,  but  the  Spirit  of  God.  They  are 
hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  but  revealed  to  babes 
who  love  God.  Happy  are  they  the  eyes  of  whose  heart 
are  opened  to  know  what  is  the  hope  of  his  calling,  what 
the  riches  of  his  inheritance  in  the  saints,  and  what  the 
exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  toward  them  that  believe  ! 

It  is  very  important  that  all  Christians  should  be  alive  to 
and  possess  this  power  of  vision.  It  is  deeper  than  intel- 
lectual, since  it  is  spiritual ;  it  is  not  the  result  of  reasoning 
or  learning,  but  of  intuition ;  it  cannot  be  acquired  in  the 
school  of  earthly  science,  but  is  the  gift  of  Him  who  alone 
can  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  and  remove  the  films  ol 
earthliness  that  shut  out  the  eternal  and  unseen.  If  you 
lack  it,  reader,  seek  it  at  the  hands  of  Jesus ;  be  willing  to 
do  his  will,  and  you  shall  know.  It  is  a  thousand  pities 
to  be  blind,  and  not  able  to  see  afar  off,  when  all  around 
stand  the  mountains  of  God  in  solemn  majesty,  as  the  Alps 
around  the  Swiss  hostelry,  where  the  traveler  arrives  after 
nightfall,  to  eat  and  drink  and  sleep,  unconscious  of  the 
proximity  of  so  much  loveliness.  It  is  related  of  Ampere,  the 
electrician,  who  was  short-sighted  without  being  aware  of 
it,  that  when  he  became  conscious  of  his  defective  vision 
through  the  casual  use  of  the  eye-glasses  of  a  friend,  he 
burst  into  tears  as  he  realized  how  much  he  had  missed 
throughout  his  life  of  the  wonderful  beauty  and  interest 
of  the  world  around  him.  With  more  reason  will  many 
of  us  have  to  lament  oiu:  untold  loss  through  that  spiritual 
near-sightedness  of  which  the  Holy  Ghost  speaks  (2  Pet. 
i.  9,  R.V.).  ^ 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  you  have  the  opened  eye,  you 
will  not  need  books  of  evidences  to  establish  to  your  satis- 
faction the  truth  of  our  holy  religion,  the  glory  of  the  risen 
Lord,  the  world  of  the  unseen.   With  the  woman  of  Samaria 


THE  INDESTRUCTIBLE  f^ORD 


"3 


you  will  say,  "We  have  seen  it  for  ourselves."  No  further 
proof  will  be  needed  than  your  own  spiritual  senses  afford. 
And  though  a  series  of  well-ordered  arguments  should  be 
brought  into  array  to  assail  your  position  as  a  believer,  you 
would  be  bold  to  reply,  "  Whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see." 
The  patriarchs  of  old  who  reached  forth  their  hands  to 
greet  the  vision  of  the  city  that  hath  foundations,  the  New 
Jerusalem — which  all  holy  souls  behold  descending  out  of 
heaven  from  God — furnish  the  model  for  spiritual  men  of 
every  age ;  and  they  who  see  these  things  are  indifferent  to 
the  privations  of  the  tent  life,  or,  as  in  Jeremiah's  case,  rise 
superior  to  the  hatred  of  man  and  the  privations  of  a  siege. 

II.  The  Use  of  the  Penknife. — Men  use  the  knife  to 
the  Bible  in  varied  ways.  Among  these  are  Systems  of 
Priestcraft  and  Error,  They  have  done  it.  They  will  do 
it  again.  They  are  wise  to  do  it — I  mean  wise  in  their  own 
interests.  For  when  once  the  Bible  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
people,  the  false  teacher  who  has  deluded  them  for  selfish 
purposes  must  pack.  The  long  reign  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  was  broken  as  soon  as  Tyndale,  Erasmus,  and 
Luther  opened  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  printirg-press 
scattered  it  over  the  world.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
therefore,  that  as  long  as  possible  fires  were  lit  for  Bible 
burning  in  every  chief  city  of  Europe,  and  the  knife  was 
freely  used  to  cut  out  whatever  condemned  the  office  of  the 
pope,  or  the  system  to  which  he  belonged.  The  Vulgate, 
with  its  mutilations  and  excisions,  is  a  standing  evidence 
that  Jehudi's  penknife  survived  his  age. 

The  next  that  follows  Jehoiakim's  practice  is  the  Infidel^ 
who  uses  the  keen  blade  of  bitter  sarcasm  and  miscalled 
reason  to  destroy  the  Scriptures.  The  hostility  that  mani- 
fested itself  in  the  winter  palace  among  the  princes  of  this 
world  has  wrought  in  the  halls  of  earthly  learning  and  sci- 


I  I 


ft 


114 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


tnce,  instigating  similar  acts  to  theirs.  The  laboratory  of 
the  chemist,  the  hammer  of  the  mineralogist,  the  pry  of  the 
geologist,  the  telescope  of  the  astronomer,  the  calculations 
of  the  arithmetician,  and  the  explorations  of  the  discoverer, 
have  all  been  used  in  turn  as  the  penknife  of  destruction. 
The  Bible  is  cut  up  regularly  once  in  each  generation  by 
men  like  these. 

The  next  are  the  Higher  Critics  of  our  time,  who  surely 
have  gone  beyond  the  necessities  of  the  case  in  their  ruth- 
less use  of  the  knife.  Some  of  them  seem  to  delight  in 
making  havoc  of  the  sacred  writings,  hacking  at  the  Old 
Testament  specially,  and  whittling  away  from  the  reputed 
work  of  a  Moses,  an  Isaiah,  or  a  Daniel.  There  is  room 
for  the  honest  examination  of  the  fabric  of  Sacred  Script- 
ure, its  language,  the  evidence  furnished  in  its  texture  of 
the  successive  hands  which  have  reedited  its  most  ancient 
documents ;  but  this  is  altogether  different  to  the  ruthless 
vandalism  that  wantonly  assigns  large  portions  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch to  the  age  of  Ezra,  and  the  Book  of  Daniel  to  the 
times  of  the  Maccabees. 

We  art  all  tempted  to  use  Jehud^s  penknife.  It  is  proba- 
ble that  no  one  is  free  from  the  almost  unconscious  habit 
of  evading  or  toning  down  certain  passages  which  conflict 
with  the  doctrinal  or  ecclesiastical  position  in  which  we 
were  reared  or  which  we  have  assumed. 

In  our  private  reading  of  the  Scripture  we  must  beware 
of  using  the  penknife.  Whole  books  and  tracts  of  truth 
are  practically  cut  out  of  the  Bible  of  some  earnest  Chris- 
tians— ^passages  referring  to  the  Second  Advent,  with  their 
summons  to  awake  and  gird  on  the  armor  of  light ;  those 
that  deal  with  the  undying  worm,  the  tmquenched  fire,  and 
the  inevitable  doom  of  the  ungodly;  those  that  describe 
the  types  and  shadows  of  the  ancient  law ;  or  those  that 
build  up  massive  systems  of  truth  and  doctrine,  as  in  the 


THE  INDESTRUCTIBLE  IVORD 


"5 


epistles.  But  we  can  only  eliminate  these  things  at  our 
peril.  The  Bible  is  like  good  wheaten  bread,  which  con- 
tains all  the  properties  necessary  to  support  life.  And  we 
cannot  eliminate  its  starch  or  sugar,  its  nitrates  or  phos- 
phates, without  becoming  enfeebled  and  unhealthy.  It  is 
a  golden  rule  to  read  the  Bible  as  a  whole.  Of  course 
each  will  have  his  favorite  passages,  dark  with  tears  and 
use :  Psalm  xxiii.,  Isaiah  liii.,  John  xiv. ;  but  besides  these 
there  should  be  the  loving  and  devout  study  of  all  Script- 
ure, which  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  therefore 
profitable,  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly 
furnished  to  every  good  work. 


III.  The  Indestructible  Word. — Men  may  destroy 
the  words  and  the  fabric  on  which  they  are  written,  but 
not  the  Word  itself.  It  is  the  incorruptible  Word  of  God, 
which  liveth  and  abideth,  though  all  flesh  wither  as  grass 
and  the  glory  of  man  as  the  flower  of  the  field.  It  must 
be  sometimes  an  uncomfortable  reflection  to  those  who  re- 
fuse the  testimony  of  the  Word  of  God,  who  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  destroy  it  and  despise  its  remonstrances  and 
warnings,  that  their  attitude  toward  the  message  cannot 
affect  the  reality  to  which  it  bears  witness. 

Jeremiah  wrote  another  roll.  The  money  spent  in  buy- 
ing up  copies  of  the  Bible  to  bum  at  St.  Paul's  enabled 
Tyndale  to  reissue  the  Scriptures  in  a  cheaper  form  and  a 
better  type.  And  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  fact  in  this 
connection  is  that,  in  spite  of  all  that  has  been  done  to 
stamp  out  the  Bible,  it  exists  in  millions  of  copies,  and  is 
circulated  among  all  the  nations  of  the  world — not  a  chap- 
ter effaced,  not  a  parable  dropped  out,  not  a  miracle  injured, 
not  a  promise  scarred.  It  has  been  declared  over  and  over 
again  to  be  a  careless,  unauthenticated  collection  of  works 
of  different  periods,  having  no  unity  save  that  given  by 


■i 


ii6 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


the  bookbinder;  yet  it  is  with  us  to-day  in  unimpaired 
authority. 

And  the  facts  to  which  Jeremiah  bore  witness  all  came 
to  pass.  Neither  knife  nor  fire  could  arrest  the  inevitable 
doom  of  king,  city,  and  people.  The  drunken  captain  may 
cut  in  pieces  the  chart  that  tells  of  the  rocks  in  the  vessel's 
course,  and  put  in  irons  the  sailor  who  calls  his  attention 
to  it ;  but  neither  will  avert  the  crash  that  must  ensue  un- 
less the  helm  is  turned.  Let  those  beware  who  deny  the 
testimony  of  Scripture  to  the  retribution  of  sin  and  the 
wrath  of  God :  these  things  are  as  true  as  the  throne  of 
God  and  the  reward  of  the  redeemed.  You  may  tamper 
with  and  destroy  the  record,  but  the  stubborn  facts  remain. 


ired 


ame 
able 
may 
isel's 
ition 
!  un- 
r  the 
the 
le  of 
nper 
oain. 


XIII. 
9:i)t  BecljabiUt. 

(Jeremiah  xxxv.  6-io.) 

*'  Happy  if  fall  of  days — but  happier  far 
If,  ere  we  yet  discern  life's  evening  star, 
Sick  of  the  service  of  a  world  that  feeds 
Its  patient  drudges  with  dry  chaff  and  weeds, 
We  can  escape  from  custom's  idiot  sway, 
To  serve  the  Sovereign  we  were  born  to  obey." 

COWPER. 

THE  march  of  Nebuchadnezzar  on  Jerusalem  was  an- 
ticipated by  incursions  of  Syrians,  Moabites,  and  the 
children  of  Ammon.  These  may  be  compared  to  the  squad- 
rons of  light  cavalry  used  in  modem  warfare  to  harass  the 
enemy  and  prepare  the  way  for  heavier  armaments.  They 
swept  up  the  valleys,  massacred  the  peasantry,  devoured  the 
crops,  and  spread  terror  on  every  hand.  The  inhabitants, 
therefore,  of  the  neighboring  country,  eager  to  save  their 
lives  and  some  relics  of  their  property,  left  their  houses 
and  lands  to  the  mercy  of  the  invader,  and  fled  for  protec- 
tion to  the  metropolis,  accounting  that  within  the  massive 
walls  of  Zion  they  would  find  safeguard.  What  a  stir  there 
must  have  been  as  day  by  day  the  motley  groups  pressed 
in  under  the  old  gateways,  gray  with  age,  and  sought  ac- 
commodation and  food  in  the  already  overcrowded  tene- 
ments of  the  city ! 
Among  the  rest  came  a  tribe  that  excited  much  curiosity 

117 


I 


ii8 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


by  reason  of  its  strange  and  antique  manners.  It  came  in 
full  force — of  men  at  least.  The  sheik's  name  was  Jaazaniah 
— "he  whom  Jehovah  hears  " ;  and  his  brethren  and  sons 
and  the  heads  of  other  households  were  with  him.  They 
refused  to  shelter  in  the  houses  or  permanent  buildings  of 
the  city,  but  pitched  their  dusky  tents  in  some  open  space 
within  the  walls,  and  there  awaited  the  turn  of  events. 

Their  record  was  an  honorable  one,  and  reached  far  back 
into  the  early  days  of  Hebrew  history.  When  Israel  was 
passing  through  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  the  tribe  of  the 
Kenites  showed  them  kindness,  and  this  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  perpetual  friendliness  between  the  two  peoples. 
They  seem  to  have  adopted  the  religious  convictions  of 
Israel,  and  to  have  accompanied  them  into  the  Land  of 
Promise.  Retaining  their  integrity  as  a  pastoral  people, 
the  Kenites  maintained  these  friendly  relations  with  Israel 
during  the  intervening  centuries ;  and  it  was  of  this  tribe 
that  the  Rechabites,  for  such  was  the  name  of  this  strange, 
tent-loving  people,  had  sprung  (Judges  iv.  17,  24;  i  Sam. 
XV.  6;  I  Chron.  ii.  55). 

About  the  time  of  Elijah,  and  perhaps  largely  influenced 
by  him,  the  sheik  or  leader  of  one  branch  of  the  Kenites 
was  Jonadab,  the  son  of  Rechab.  He  was  dismayed  at  the 
abounding  corruption  and  iniquity  of  the  time,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  northern  kingdom,  then  under  the  fatal  spell 
of  Jezebel's  and  Ahab's  influence,  and  resembling  some  rank 
jungle  in  whose  steamy  air,  heavy  with  fever  and  poison, 
noisome  creatures  swarm  and  foul  pestilences  breed.  In 
his  endeavor  to  save  his  people  from  such  a  fate,  this  noble 
man,  who  afterward  became  Jehu's  confederate  in  extirpat- 
ing idolatry,  bound  his  people  under  a  solemn  pledge  to 
drink  no  wine  forever ;  neither  to  build  houses,  nor  sow 
seed,  nor  plant  vineyards,  but  to  dwell  in  tents.  Two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  had  passed  since  then,  but  when  they 


THE  RECHABITES 


119 


arrived  in  Jerusalem  they  were  still  true  to  the  traditions 
of  their  race,  and  with  sturdy  strength  stood  out  among 
the  effeminate  and  idol-loving  people  of  Jerusalem,  living 
representatives  of  the  noblest  and  purest  days  of  Hebrew 
story. 


I.  Jlremiah's  Test  of  the  Rechabites. — So  soon  as 
their  arrival  was  noised  abroad  and  had  come  to  the  ears 
of  Jeremiah,  he  was  seized  by  a  divine  impulse  to  derive 
from  them  a  striking  object-lesson  for  his  own  people. 
With  an  inventiveness  which  only  passionate  love  could 
have  suggested,  the  prophet  caught  at  every  incident  and 
used  every  method  to  awaken  his  people  to  realize  their 
true  position  in  the  sight  of  God.  Taking  the  leaders  of 
the  Rechabites  with  him,  he  went  into  the  Temple,  to  a 
room  belonging  to  the  sons  of  Hanan,  known  as  a  man  of 
God,  immediately  adjacent  to  the  room  occupied  by  the 
princes,  and  above  that  occupied  by  the  gatekeeper. 

Probably  a  little  group  of  Jews,  arrested  by  the  prophet's 
association  with  these  strange-looking  men,  followed  them 
in  to  watch  the  proceedings.  They  were  curious  witnesses 
of  the  prophet's  action,  as  he  caused  bowls  of  wine  to  be 
set  before  the  tribesmen,  and  cups  to  be  offered  them, 
that  they  might  dip  them  in  and  drink.  They  also  heard 
the  blunt,  unqualified  refusal  of  these  quaint,  old-fashioned 
Puritans,  "We  will  drink  no  wine,"  followed  by  an  ex- 
planation of  the  solemn  obligation  laid  on  them  centuries 
before. 

The  moral  was  obvious.  Here  were  men  loyal  to  the 
wish  of  their  ancestor,  though  he  was  little  more  than  a 
name  to  them,  and  refusing  the  offered  sweets  in  which  so 
many  freely  indulged.  How  great  a  contrast  to  the  peo- 
ple of  Jerusalem,  who  persistently  disregarded  the  words 
of  the  living  God  perpetually  remonstrating  against  their 


X20 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


sins!  The  prohibitions  of  Jonadab  were  largely  arbitrary 
and  external,  while  those  of  Jehovah  were  corroborated  by 
the  convictions  of  conscience,  and  consonant  with  the 
deepest  foundations  of  religion  and  morality.  The  voice 
of  Jonadab  was  a  cry  coming  faintly  from  far  down  the 
ages,  while  Jehovah  was  ever  speaking  with  each  new 
dawn,  and  in  the  voice  of  each  fresh  messenger  whom  he 
rose  early  to  send. 

There  could  be  but  one  result.  Judah,  eaten  through 
with  the  crimes  and  corruption  against  which  God  had 
protested  in  vain,  must  reap  the  whirlwind,  as  she  had  sown 
the  wind.  There  could  be  no  escape  from  the  judgment 
which  was  drawing  nearer  with  every  daybreak.  If  the 
people  could  not  heed  words  of  expostulation,  of  entreaty 
and  warning,  accounting  them  exaggerated  and  vain,  they 
should  at  least  be  compelled  to  admit  that  not  one  of  God's 
threats  of  vengeance  fell  impotent  on  the  air  or  missed  its 
aim. 

On  the  other  hand,  such  devotion  to  principle,  such  per- 
sistent culture  of  simpUcity,  frugality,  and  abstinence,  such 
literal  adherence  to  the  will  of  the  father  of  their  house, 
not  only  carried  within  them  the  assurance  of  perpetuity  to 
the  people  who  practiced  them,  but  must  receive  the  sig- 
nature and  countersign  of  the  Almighty.  "  Therefore  thus 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel ;  Jonadab  the 
son  of  Rechab  shall  not  want  a  man  to  stand  before  me 
forever." 

This  phrase  had  a  very  profound  significance.  It  sug- 
gested, of  course,  obviously,  that  the  tribe  should  not  cease 
to  exist.  And  it  is  to  be  noted  that  Dr.  Wolff,  the  mis- 
sionary traveler,  met  a  tribe  in  Arabia  who  claimed  to  be 
Rechabites  and  read  to  him  these  words  of  Jeremiah  from 
an  Arabic  Bible ;  and  that  Signor  Pierotti,  near  the  south- 
east end  of  the  Dead  Sea,  met  a  tribe  who  also  called  them- 


I 


THE  RECHABITES 


X2I 


I 


I 


selves  Rechabites  and  quoted  these  words.  But  there  was 
a  yet  deeper  thought.  The  phrase  is  often  used  in  Scripture 
of  priestly  service.  And  may  we  not  infer  that  where  we 
meet  that  devotion  to  principle  and  that  detachment  from 
the  world  which  characterized  these  men,  there  will  always 
be  a  strong  religious  tone,  a  knowledge  of  God,  a  power 
in  prayer  and  intercession,  which  are  the  essential  charac- 
teristics of  the  priest  ?  This  will  lead  us  to  thoughts  which 
are  alike  suggestive  and  salutary. 

II.  The  Elements  of  a  Strongly  Religious  Life. — 
The  phrase  "  to  stand  before  God  "  designates  a  high-toned 
religious  life,  and  includes  the  knowledge  of  God,  the  fac- 
ulty of  executing  his  commands,  and  the  power  of  interced- 
ing for  others.  The  phrase  was  a  favorite  one  with  Elijah, 
as  expressing  the  spirit  of  his  great  career,  and  was  chosen 
by  the  angel  Gabriel  as  conveying  to  the  maiden  of  Naza- 
reth the  most  certain  guaranty  of  his  authority  and  verac- 
ity. Surely  every  reader  of  these  words  must  desire  that 
the  spirit  and  attitude  of  all  coming  days  may  be  desig- 
nated thus !  Oh,  to  stand  always  before  Him,  on  whose 
face  the  glory  of  God  shines  as  the  sun  in  his  strength  1 
But  if  this  is  to  be  something  more  than  a  vague  wish,  an 
idle  dream,  three  things  should  be  remembered,  suggested 
by  the  words  of  the  Rechabites : 

(i)  T^ere  must  be  Close  Adhesion  to  Great  Principles.— ^ 
Many  superficial  reasons  might  have  suggested  to  the 
Rechabites  compliance  with  the  prophet's  tempting  sug- 
gestion. The  wine  was  before  them;  there  was  no  sin 
against  God  in  taking  it ;  the  people  around  had  no  scru- 
ples about  it ;  and  the  prophet  himself  invited  them.  But 
against  all  they  stood  on  the  principles  which  Jonadab 
had  laid  down  to  guide  them,  and  they  did  not  hesitate 
to  avow  them,  let  those  ridicule  who  would. 


4      i\ 

I 


122 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


In  contrast  to  this,  it  is  the  general  tendency  among 
men  to  ask  what  is  the  practice  of  the  majority ;  what  is 
done  by  those  in  their  rank  and  station ;  and  what  will  be 
expected  of  them.  We  drift  with  the  current.  We  allow 
our  lives  to  be  settled  by  our  companions  or  our  whims, 
our  fancies  or  our  tastes ;  and  if  ever  we  have  a  momentary 
qualm  in  contrasting  our  lives  with  the  standards  of  primi- 
tive simplicity,  of  which  Scripture  and  old  biographies  are 
full,  we  excuse  ourselves  by  saying  that  so  long  as  the  main 
purpose  is  right  the  details  are  unimportant.  This  reason- 
ing is  wrong.  We  make  a  grave  mistake  in  supposing  that 
the  main  purpose  of  our  life  is  something  different  from 
that  which  reveals  itself  in  details.  What  we  are  in  the 
details  of  our  life  that  we  are  really  and  essentially.  The 
truest  photographs  are  taken  when  we  are  unprepared  for 
the  operation.  The  true  man,  therefore,  is  always  settling 
his  life  in  its  details,  as  well  as  in  its  main  direction,  accord- 
ing to  great  principles.  Before  we  go  another  step  let  me 
entreat  my  readers  not  to  allow  themselves  to  do  or  permit 
things  simply  because  cusc  3m  or  taste  or  public  opinion 
advocates  them,  but  to  bring  their  entirt  life  to  the  touch- 
stone of  some  elementary  law  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
which  shall  do  in  the  moral  what  gravitation  does  in  the 
physical  sphere,  ordaining  the  course  of  worlds  and  of 
molecules  of  dust. 

And  if  it  be  asked.  What  principle  is  far-reaching  enough 
in  its  scope  and  powerful  enough  in  its  force  for  so  great 
a  work  ?  let  us  ponder  what  William  Law  so  perpetually 
insists  upon  in  his  "Serious  Call":  "The  first  and  most 
fundamental  principle  of  Christianity  is  an  intention  to 
please  God  in  all  our  actions.  It  is  because  the  generality 
of  Christians  have  no  such  intention  that  they  so  fall  short 
of  true  devotion."  And,  indeed,  when  we  consider  the 
characters  of  the  early  disciples  of  Jesus,  or  those  of  saints. 


of 


he 
ts, 


THE  RECHABITES 


X23 


martyrs,  and  confessors,  must  we  not  admit  that  they  were 
as  scrupulous  in  seeking  the  will  of  God  about  the  trifles 
of  their  life  as  the  Rechabites  were  in  consulting  the  will 
and  pleasure  of  the  dead  Jonadab  ?  The  thought  of  God 
was  as  present  with  the  one  as  of  Jonadab  with  the  other. 
And  was  not  this  the  secret  of  their  strong  and  noble  lives  ? 

What  a  revolution  would  come  to  us  all  if  it  became  the 
one  fixed  aim  and  ambition  of  our  lives  to  do  always  those 
things  that  are  pleasing  in  His  sight !  It  would  not  make 
us  less  tender  in  our  friendships,  or  less  active  in  our  ser- 
vice. It  would  not  take  the  sparkle  from  the  eye,  the  nerve 
from  the  grasp,  or  the  warm  glow  from  the  heart.  But  it 
would  check  many  a  vain  word,  arrf  many  a  silly  jest, 
stop  much  selfish  and  vainglorious  expenditure,  and  bring 
us  back  to  whatsoever  things  are  true,  honorable,  just,  pure, 
lovely,  and  of  good  report. 

(2)  Abstinence  from  the  Spirit  of  the  Age. — It  was  an  im- 
mense gain  in  every  way  for  the  Rechabites  to  abstain  from 
wine.  Wine  was  closely  associated  with  the  luxury,  corrup- 
tion, and  abominable  revelries  of  the  time  (Isa.  xxviii.  1-8). 
Their  abstinence  was  not  only  a  protest  against  the  evils 
which  were  honeycombing  their  age,  but  was  a  sure  safe- 
guard against  participation  in  them. 

In  these  days  the  same  principles  apply.  Whatever  may 
be  said  about  the  use  of  alcohol  in  certain  forms  of  sickness 
and  debilitated  health,  it  is  incontrovertible  that  it  is  un- 
necessary as  an  article  of  ordinary  diet.  It  is  very  closely 
identified  with  the  vilest  practices  of  impure  passion,  the 
obscenities  of  the  music-hall,  the  license  of  the  stage,  and 
the  coarse  revelry  of  the  race-course.  Its  fumes  fill  the  card- 
room,  the  billiard-room,  and  the  scene  of  abandoned  vice. 
The  votaries  of  sin  confess  that  they  could  not  do  as  they 
do  apart  from  its  excitement.  Add  to  all  this  the  incon- 
testable direct  results  of  the  drink  traffic  in  crime,  poverty, 


124 


JEREMIAH,  TPJEST  AND  TROPHET 


misery,  suicide,  and  death — ^results  which  Mr.  Gladstone 
once  declared  to  be  more  deplorable  than  those  that  flow 
from  famine,  pestilence,  and  war  combined.  Surely,  then, 
we  shall  do  well  to  say  with  the  Rechabites,  whoever  may 
ask  us  to  drink,  "  We  will  drink  no  wine." 

But  wine  may  stand  for  the  spirit  of  the  age,  its  restless- 
ness, its  constant  thirst  for  novelty,  for  amusement,  for  fas- 
cination, its  feverish  demand  for  the  fresh  play,  the  excit- 
ing novel,  the  rush  of  the  season,  the  magnificent  pageant. 
It  is  easier  to  abstain  from  alcohol  than  from  this  insidious 
spirit  of  our  time,  which  is  poured  so  freely  into  the  air,  as 
from  the  vial  of  some  demon  sorceress.  We  might  well 
refer  to  this  the  wise  words  of  the  Apostle :  "  Be  not  drunk 
with  wine,  wherein  is  excess ;  but  be  filled  with  the  Spirit." 
You  cannot  exorcise  Satan  by  a  negation.  You  must  be 
preoccupied,  prepossessed.  And  it  is  only  they  that  are 
filled  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  his  blessed  energy,  who  are 
proof  against  the  intoxicating  cup  of  this  Circe  world. 

(3)  We  must  Hold  Lightly  to  the  Things  around. — The 
Rechabites  dwelt  in  tents.  They  drove  their  vast  flocks 
from  place  to  place,  and  were  content  with  the  simple  life 
of  the  wandering  shepherd.  It  was  thus  that  the  great 
patriarchs  had  lived  before  them  (Heb.  xi.  9,  13).  And 
ever  since  their  days  the  tent  life  has  been  the  chosen 
emblem  of  the  life  that  is  so  strongly  attracted  to  the  other 
world  as  to  be  Ughtly  attached  to  this.  ' 

It  is  difiicult  to  say  what  worldliness  consists  in.  What 
would  be  worldly  to  some  people  is  an  ordinary  part  of 
life's  circumstances  to  others.  But  all  of  us  are  sensible 
of  ties  that  hold  us  to  the  earth.  We  may  discover  what 
they  are  by  considering  what  we  cling  to ;  what  we  find  it 
hard  to  let  go,  even  into  the  hands  of  Christ ;  what  we  are 
always  striving  to  augment ;  what  we  pride  ourselves  in. 
It  may  be  name,  fame,  notoriety,  pride  of  fashion,  rank, 


THE  RECHABITES 


"5 


money.  But  whatever  it  is,  if  it  hinders  us  from  living  on 
the  highest  level,  if  it  is  a  weight  that  impedes  our  speed 
heavenward,  it  should  be  laid  deliberately  on  God's  altar, 
that  he  may  do  with  it  as  he  will,  and  that  we  may  be  able, 
without  let  or  hindrance,  to  be  wholly  tor  God. 


XIV. 
IJibbettf  bttt  Eabiant. 

(Jeremiah  xxxvi.  26.) 

"  Be  still  and  strong, 
O  Man,  my  Brother!  hold  thy  sobbing  breath, 
And  keep  thy  soul's  large  window  pure  from  wrong! 

That  so,  as  life's  appointment  issueth, 
Thy  vision  may  be  clear  to  watch  along 
The  sunset  consummation -lights  of  death!" 

£.  B.  Browning. 

AFTER  Jehoiakim  had  deliberately  cut  in  pieces  the 
.  prophet's  roll,  and  so  rejected  his  warnings  and  ex- 
postulations, and  when  in  addition  to  this  he  had  threat- 
ened the  lives  of  God's  faithful  servants,  it  became  clear 
that  no  further  good  could  be  gained  by  reiterating  his 
messages.  Thus  the  prophet's  voice  was  hushed,  appar- 
ently for  the  remainder  of  the  reign  of  this  bad  and  infatu- 
ated king.  This  is  one  of  those  principles  of  the  divine 
government,  which  is  as  certain  in  its  operation  to-day  as 
ever,  that  after  a  certain  time  the  divine  voice,  being  un- 
heeded, ceases  to  speak,  and  those  who  will  not  retain  God 
in  their  knowledge  are  given  up  to  the  workings  of  their 
corrupt  minds,  to  work  all  uncleanness  with  greediness. 
We  recall  those  ominous  words,  written  as  an  epitaph  on 
the  grave  of  the  first  king  of  Israel:  "Samuel  came  no 
more  to  see  Saul  until  the  day  of  his  death,"  and  the  no 

126 


HIDDEN,  BUT  RADIANT 


127 


less  awful  words  of  the  apostle  of  love :  "  There  is  a  sin 
unto  death :  not  concerning  this  do  I  say  that  he  should 
make  request"  (i  John  v.  16,  r.v.). 

Into  that  new  and  splendid  palace  of  Jehoiakim,  whose 
spacious  halls  were  ceiled  with  cedar  from  Lebanon,  lighted 
by  wide  windows,  and  painted  with  bright  colors,  the  one 
presence  never  entered  which  at  that  time  would  have 
saved  the  ship  of  state — as  the  timely  arrival  of  a  pilot 
may  save  an  ocean  steamer  from  the  fatal  ignorance  of  an 
incompetent  captain.  The  false  prophets  might  beguile 
the  ears  of  king  and  people  with  predictions  bred  in  the 
falsehood  of  their  own  nature.  The  strong  Egyptian  par- 
tisans might  urge  on  the  king  alliance  with  Pharaoh  as  the 
certain  cure  for  the  difficulties  of  their  position.  But  Jere- 
miah's voice,  during  the  dark  and  troublous  days  that  suc- 
ceeded that  scene  in  the  palace,  and  until  Jehoiakim's  body 
was  cast  forth,  unburied  and  unwept,  was  still.  How  did 
it  fare  with  the  prophet,  and  what  engaged  him  during 
those  eventful  years  ? 


I.  The  Lord  Hid  Him.— What  that  precisely  means  it 
is  impossible  to  say.  Was  there  a  John  of  Gaunt  for  this 
Wycliffe,  an  elector  of  Saxony  for  this  Luther  ?  Did  Ahi- 
kam,  who  had  before  interposed  on  his  behalf,  or  his  sons 
— Gemariah,  who  lent  Jeremiah  his  room  in  the  Temple  for 
the  reading  of  his  roll,  and  Gedahah,  who  became  governor 
of  Judah  after  Zedekiah's  deportation — take  the  prophet 
under  their  care?  Or  was  this  hiding  something  more 
divine  and  blessed  still?  In  any  case,  whether  through 
the  intervention  of  second  causes  or  directly  Jeremiah  was 
hidden  in  the  covert  of  the  divine  presence  from  the  plot- 
tings  of  man,  and  was  kept  secretly  in  a  pa\  ilion  from  the 
strife  of  tongues.  In  his  first  alarm  he  had  said,  "  I  am 
cut  off  from  before  thine  eyes."    Nevertheless,  God  had 


X38 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


heard  the  voice  of  his  supplication  and  had  preserved  his 
faithful  servant. 

These  divine  hidings  are  needed  by  us  all.  We  must 
obey  the  voice  that  cries  to  us,  as  it  did  to  Elijah,  "  Get 
thee  hence,  and  turn  thee  eastward,  and  hide  thyself." 
We  are  too  prominent,  too  self-important,  too  conscious  of 
ourselves.  Our  shadows  fall  too  much  in  front  of  us,  and 
we  see  them  on  the  sand,  clear-cut  and  defined.  We  need 
to  keep  our  faces  sunward,  that  our  shadow  may  be  well 
out  of  sight.  And  God  must  sometimes  hide  us  in  the  sick- 
chamber,  the  valley  of  shadow,  the  cleft  of  the  rock.  He 
calls  us  to  Zarephath  or  Carmel,  to  the  privacy  of  obscu- 
rity or  of  solitude.  It  is  only  when  self  is  hidden  in  the 
darkness  of  the  grave  that  the  true  light  shines  upon  our 
hearts,  or  the  power  of  the  true  life  emanates  from  our  acts. 

How  often  has  some  timid  nature  sheltered  and  hidden 
itself  in  a  stronger  personality  to  which  it  was  devotedly 
attached^  so  that  it  could  bear  unmoved  the  stare  of  indif- 
J:»rence,  the  affectation  of  superiority,  the  sarcastic  taunt, 
the  injurious  act !  So  when  the  one  passion  of  our  nature 
is  Godward,  when  his  smile  is  our  sufUcienc  reward,  when 
we  have  no  aim  than  to  be  well-pleasing  in  his  sight,  we 
are  hidden ;  and  from  our  retreat  in  the  burning  glory  of 
his  light  we  can  look  out  with  equanimity  on  the  forms 
of  dreaded  evils  as  they  pass  us  by. 

There  is  a  literal  sense  also,  O  tried  and  tempted  be- 
liever, in  which  God  will  hide  you.  It  is  stated  that  on  one 
occasion  when  the  dragoons  of  Claverhouse  were  scouring 
the  mountains  of  Scotland  in  search  of  the  Covenanters,  a 
little  party  of  these  godly  folk,  gathered  on  the  hillside  for 
prayer,  must  have  fallen  into  their  hands,  had  not  a  cloud 
suddenly  settled  down,  effectually  concealing  them  from 
their  pursuers.  Thus  the  Son  of  God  still  interposes  for 
his  own.     Live  to  him  alone.    Be  a  polished  shaft  hidden 


: 


his 


HIDDEN,  BUT  R/tDMNT 


129 


in  the  hollow  of  his  hand.  Abide  in  him.  H?/k  !  he  says 
to  thee  as  David  to  Abiathar,  "  Abide  thou  \nth  me^  fear 
not :  for  he  that  seeketh  my  life  seeketh  thy  life :  but  with 
me  thou  shalt  be  in  safeguard." 


II.  He  REfiDiTED  HIS  Prophecies. — To  this  period  we 
may  refer  the  divine  injunction :  "  Thus  speaketh  the  Lord 
God  of  Israel,  saying,  Write  thee  all  the  words  that  I 
have  spoken  unto  thee  in  a  book"  (xxx.  2).  It  may  be 
that  throughout  this  period  Baruch  continued  to  act  as 
his  faithful  amanuensis  and  scribe.  He,  at  least,  was  cer- 
tainly included  in  the  divine  hidings  (xxxvi.  26-32).  It 
was  at  great  cost  to  his  earthly  prospects.  He  came  of 
a  good  family,  his  brother  being  Seraiah,  who  held  high 
office  under  King  Zedekiah,  and  he  cherished  the  ambi- 
tion of  distinguishing  himself  among  his  compeers.  "  He 
sought  great  things  for  himself."  But  he  was  reconciled 
to  the  lot  of  suffering  and  sorrow  to  which  his  close  identi- 
fication with  Jeremiah  led  him  by  a  special  revelation  as- 
suring him  of  the  speedy  overthrow  of  the  state,  and  that 
in  the  general  chaos  he  would  escape  with  his  life  (xlv.). 

By  the  aid  of  this  faithful  friend  Jeremiah  gathered  to- 
gether  the  prophecies  which  he  had  uttered  on  various 
occasions,  and  put  them  in  order,  specially  elaborating  the 
predictions  given  in  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim  against 
the  surrounding  nations.  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  to 
him  concerning  the  Philistines  and  Moab,  and  the  children 
of  Ammon  and  Edom,  Damascus  and  Kedar.  And  the 
devout  student  may  well  pause  to  read  again  the  marvelous 
paragraphs  which  foretell  the  fate  of  these  nations,  beneath 
the  all-desolating  incursions  of  Nebuchadnezzar  and  his 
ruthless  soldiers.  "Thou  art  my  battle-ax  and  weapons 
of  war,"  said  the  prophet,  addressing  the  great  king  in  Je- 
hovah's name :  "for  with  thee  will  I  break  in  pieces  the  na- 


13© 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  /tND  TROPHET 


tions,  and  with  thee  will  I  destroy  kingdoms  "  (see  chapters 
xlvii.  tu  xlix.  33). 

This  time  of  Jeremiah's  seclusion  was  therefore  not  lost 
to  the  world.  It  was  fruitful  as  Bunyan's  in  Bedford  Jail, 
Luther's  in  the  Wartburg,  Madame  Guyon's  in  the  Bastille. 
Unseen,  the  prophet  busied  himself,  as  the  night  settled 
down  on  his  country,  in  kindling  the  sure  light  of  prophecy 
that  should  cast  its  radiant  beams  over  the  dark  waters  of 
time  until  the  day  should  dawn  and  the  day-star  glimmer 
out  in  the  Eastern  sky.  Yield  your  whole  nature  to  God^ 
and  be  sure  that  he  will  bring  all  of  it,  and  every  moment, 
under  his  productive  cultivation,  so  that  it  shall  become 
like  one  of  the  old-fashioned  wall-inclosed  country  gar- 
dens,  every  square  inch  of  which  yields  some  produce  to 
the  skillful  hand  of  its  owner. 


III.  He  Made  a  Double  Journey  to  Babylon. — ^To 
this  period  we  must  also  refer  the  incident  of  the  linen 
girdle,  because  the  discourse  founded  on  it  was  deL'vered 
during  the  three  months'  reign  of  Jehoiachin,  which  was  alto- 
gether too  brief  to  admit  of  so  long  a  journey  as  was  nec- 
essary for  the  purposes  on  which  the  prophet  was  sent  (xiii., 
notably  \efse  18). 

The  Israelite  was  extremely  particular  as  to  cleanliness, 
and  especially  of  linen.  It  therefore  attracted  universal 
notice  that  Jeremiah  at  a  certain  period  wore  a  newly  pur- 
chased linen  girdle  without  washing  it.  When  it  was  soiled 
and  filthy  he  took  it,  under  divine  direction,  to  the  river 
Euphrates,  and  there  buried  it  in  a  hole  of  the  rock.  Some 
have  thought  that  this  is  the  description  of  a  vision,  or  that 
some  place  nearer  than  the  Euphrates,  which  was  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  distant,  is  intended.  But  there  seems 
no  good  reason  for  questioning  the  literal  interpretation  of 
ihe  narrative  as  given  by  the  prophet.    There  was  no  spe- 


HIDDEN,  BUT  RADIANT 


131 


cial  demand  for  his  presence  in  Jerusalem,  but  the  reverse. 
Time  was  no  object  in  comparison  with  the  vividness  of 
the  impression  that  would  be  produced.  Sesides,  large 
purposes  were  served  by  his  becoming  familiarized  with 
the  condition  of  the  exiles  in  Babylon,  and  witl.  the  drift 
of  events  there.  In  the  prophecies  which  he  delivered 
afterward  on  the  fall  of  Babylon,  there  are  touches  of  de- 
scription so  minute  and  accurate  as  could  hardly  have  been 
given  by  one  who  was  not  familiar  with  the  city  from  per- 
sonal observation. 

After  his  return  from  Babylon  "many  days"  passed. 
Indeed,  his  second  journey  to  recover  his  marred  girdle 
may  have  been  so  timed  by  Almighty  Providence  as  to 
secure  his  absence  from  the  city  during  the  last  scene  of 
Jehoiakim's  sad  and  tragic  history,  and  to  bring  him  thither 
again  as  Jehoiachin  began  his  brief  reign.  But  that  rotted 
piece  of  linen,  held  up  before  the  eyes  of  his  people,  told 
its  own  sad  story.  Judah  and  Jerusalem  might  have  been 
to  Jehovah  for  a  name,  a  praise,  and  a  glory,  and  he  would 
have  caused  them  to  cleave  unto  him,  but  they  would  not 
hear ;  they  went  after  other  gods  to  serve  and  worship  them. 
Therefore  they  were  destined  to  be  cast  aside  as  worthless 
and  unprofitable. 

The  lesson  of  this  double  journey,  which  must  have 
meant  about  a  thousand  miles  on  foot,  teaches  us  that  no 
exertion  on  our  part  should  be  considered  excessive  if  we 
can  execute  the  commissions  of  our  King.  Long  before, 
when  a  comparative  child,  Jeremiah  had  been  summoned 
to  perform  God's  errands  for  him  (i.  7),  and  it  was  not  for 
him  to  complain  if  any  special  errand  took  him  far  afield, 
or  involved  journeying  under  scorching  suns  and  sleeping 
in  the  night-dews.  When  Jesus  bids  us  go  into  all  the 
world,  he  means  it,  and  we  may  not  plead  before  him  the 
distance  and  hardships  of  the  way.     It  is  enough  if  he  has 


133 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


said,  "Go  to  Euphrates."  When  once  we  are  sure  of  this 
we  must  imitate  the  prophet,  who  says,  with  charming  sim- 
plicity, "  So  I  went  to  Euphrates." 


IV.  He  had  Visions  of  the  New  Covenant. — There 
is  liiuch  reason  for  supposing  that  it  was  in  this  time  of 
seclusion  that  Jeremiah's  eyes  were  opened  to  see  a  spiritual 
truth  which  was  far  in  advance  of  any  contemporary  reve- 
lation, and  was  destined  to  become  the  mold  into  which 
some  of  the  richest  ore  of  gospel  truth  should  be  poured. 
It  was  not  the  last  time  when  mortal  eyes  were  closed  in 
order  to  see — shielded  from  the  glare  of  this  world  that  they 
might  behold  the  light  that  never  shone  on  sea  or  shore. 
The  blind  Milton  sang  of  Paradise  lost  and  regained. 

The  exquisite  poem  to  which  we  must  now  turn  is  con- 
tained in  chapters  thirty  and  thirty-one,  and  consists  of 
some  seven  stanzas.  The  prophet  is  no  longer  concerned 
with  Judah  alone ;  his  thought  embraces  the  ten  tribes  also 
— Israel  he  calls  them,  or  Ephraim,  which  one  hundred 
and  seventy  years  before  had  been  carried  away  captive  to 
Nineveh.  But  his  heart  exults  as  he  anticipates  the  return 
"of  the  entire  people  from  the  land  of  the  north,  baptized 
through  suffering  into  a  purer,  nobler  life. 

On  many  of  the  exquisite  thoughts  and  phrases  of  this 
joyful  outburst  we  might  long  and  profitably  dwell.  We 
can  only  cull  a  few  flowerets,  and  leave  them  to  tell  the 
wealth  of  the  garden  from  which  they  come : 

"  Fear  thou  not,  O  my  servant  Jacob,  saith  the  Lord ; 
neither  be  dismayed,  O  Israel :  for,  lo,  I  will  save  thee  from 
afar,  and  thy  seed  from  the  land  of  their  captivity." 

"  I  will  restore  health  unto  thee,  and  I  will  heal  thee  of 
thy  wounds,  saith  the  Lord." 

"Yea,  I  have  loved  thee  with  an  everlasting  love:  there- 
fore with  loving-kindness  have  I  drawn  thee.    Again  I  will 


HIDDEN,  BUT  RADIANT 


'33 


of 


i:t 


build  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  built,  O  virgin  of  Israel: 
^hou  shalt  again  be  adorned  with  thy  tabrets,  and  shalt  go 
forth  in  the  dances  of  them  that  make  merry." 

"  My  people  shall  be  satisfied  with  my  goodness,  saith 
the  Lord." 

Transported  by  words  like  these,  as  he  lay  in  prophetic 
trance,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  Jeremiah  experienced,  after 
a  spiritual  sort,  the  ecstatic  joy  which  visits  the  soul  when 
between  sleeping  and  waking  it  realizes  that  its  dearest 
hopes  are  being  fulfilled.  "  Upon  this  I  awaked,  and  be- 
held; and  my  sleep  was  sweet  unto  me"  (xxxi.  26). 

But  the  more  stupendous  revelation  was  to  follow.  The 
dread  commands  of  Moses,  the  elaborate  forms  of  Temple 
ritual,  the  pleadings  of  Deuteronomy,  enforced  as  they 
had  been  by  the  words  of  contemporary  prophets,  had  all 
failed  to  withhold  the  people  from  backsliding.  What  hope 
was  there  that  the  distant  future  would  not  repeat  the  bitter 
story  of  the  past  ?  But  God,  who  commanded  the  light  to 
shine  out  of  darkness,  shined  into  his  servant's  heart,  and 
unveiled  the  glory  of  the  New  Covenant,  which  was  to  be 
sealed  by  the  blood  of  the  cross — "  the  New  Testament  in 
my  blood,"  as  Jesus  called  it :  a  covenant  which  would 
no  longer  depend  on  man's  obedience  to  "Thou  shalt"  and 
"Thou  shalt  not,"  but  would  glisten  with  the  seven-times 
repeated  I  will  of  God  (xxxi.  31-34 ;  Luke  xxii.  20 ;  Heb. 
viii.  8-12). 

That  the  law  of  God  should  not  be  without  as  a  precept, 
but  withittj  as  though  inwrought  into  the  very  structure  of 
the  heart  and  will ;  that  religion  should  consist  primarily  in 
what  God  was  to  his  child,  rather  than  in  v/hat  the  child  said 
or  did  toward  him  ;  that  neither  priest  nor  Levite  should  be 
needed  any  more,  since  each  soul  would  possess  the  right 
of  direct  intercourse  with  its  Lord;  that  sin  should  be 
completely  forgiven,  as  if  it  had  never  been — this  was  the 


m 


134 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


vision  which  shone  in  on  the  prophet's  heart,  and  is  realized 
in  Christ  for  all  who  belong  to  him  by  faith.  This  blessed 
covenant  shall  yet  gather  Israel  within  its  provisions. 

It  is  a  serious  question  how  far  that  covenant  has  been 
fulfilled  in  our  experience.  We  are  enamored  with  the  life 
it  foreshadows,  and  sometimes  we  think  that  our  inward 
parts  and  hearts  do  bear  its  sacred  inscriptions,  as  did  the 
stone  slabs  of  Sinai  the  writing  of  the  decalogue.  But  we 
become  suddenly  conscious  of  some  overwhelming  irrup- 
tion of  covetousness,  envy,  pride,  and  wrath,  as  though  a 
sewer  were  to  pour  forth  its  filth  over  the  mosaic-work  of 
some  splendid  pavement. 

Such  experiences  stagger,  but  they  should  not  discour- 
age us.  They  probably  show,  not  that  God  has  not  com- 
menced his  divine  work,  but  that  we  have  momentarily 
turned  aside  from  him  to  make  some  effort  of  our  own,  or 
to  pride  ourselves  on  what  has  been  accomplished.  Let 
us  turn  back  to  him.  Let  us  open  our  hearts  and  inward 
parts  to  his  finger.  Let  us  in  meek  humility  wait  for  him 
to  grave  even  more  deeply  and  legibly  his  secret  thoughts 
upon  us.  Let  us  oeileve  that  he  is  doing  it.  Let  us  reckon 
on  him  to  perfect  the  legend,  and  to  keep  it  clear  and  clean. 

Thus  we  shall  know  God.  The  dead  past  will  bury  its 
dead.  The  sins  and  iniquities  of  former  days  will  be  strewn 
on  the  shore,  like  the  corpses  of  the  Egyptians  from  whom 
Israel  had  got  free.  And  then  our  hearts  shall  go  out  in 
the  dance ;  oiu:  mourning  will  be  turned  into  joy ;  our  soul 
shall  be  as  a  watered  garden ;  and  God  will  comfort  us, 
making  us  rejoice  from  our  sorrow,  and  enabling  us  to  reap 
in  joy  what  we  sowed  in  tears  (xxxi.  10-14). 


(<) 


XV. 

(JjSREMiAH  xxvii.-xxix.) 


"  Oars  the  shf.me  to  understand 
That  the  world  prefers  the  lie; 
That,  with  medicine  in  her  hand, 

She  will  sink  and  choose  to  die  I 
Ours  the  agonizing  sense 

Of  the  heaven  this  earth  might  be, 
If,  from  their  blank  indifference. 
Men  woke  one  hour  and  felt  as  we!" 

Houghton. 


\\s 


WHE!<J  Jeremiah  was  first  summoned  to  the  work  of 
prophet,  it  was  summarized  under  six  distinct  divis- 
ions. He  was  set  ever  nations  and  kingdoms  to  pluck 
up,  and  to  break  dcwn,  and  to  destroy,  and  to  overthrow, 
to  build,  and  to  plar.t  (i.  lo).  Two  thirds  of  his  work  was 
therefore  in  the  direction  of  destruction.  It  is  not  pleas- 
ar.t  or  easy  work.  No  one  would  choose  to  stand  amid 
the  choking  dust  oif  tLe  crumbling  brickwork,  which  is 
being  destroyed  to  make  way  foi  some  palatial  structure  to 
be  erected  on  the  site.  Vested  interests,  loixg-established 
abuses,  lucrative  wrongs,  cry  out  loudly  against  any  attempt 
to  interfere  with  their  existence.  But  Elijah  must  precede 
Elisha,  and  John  the  Baptist  must  prepare  the  way  for 
Christ.  Before  the  seed-sowing,  the  plow ;  before  the  out- 
burst of  the  spring,  the  stern  disintegration  of  winter,  rub- 

135 


1 


136 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


bing  the  soil  to  powder  in  its  mighty  hands.    Such  was 
the  work  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  Jeremiah. 


I.  The  Work  of  Demolition. — (i)  Jehoiakim, — When 
Josiah  died  the  whole  land  mourned.  Each  citizen  felt 
personally  bereaved,  and  appropriated  the  plaintive  cries 
of  professional  mourners,  saying,  "  Ah,  my  brother  ! "  and 
"Ah,  sister ! "  The  air  was  full  of  the  words,  "Ah,  lord ! " 
"Ah,  the  glory  of  Israel ! "  But  Jeremiah  foretold  that  at 
the  death  of  Jehoiakim  there  should  be  no  such  expression  : 
"  He  shall  be  buried  with  the  burial  of  an  ass,  drawn  and 
cast  forth  beyond  the  gates  of  Jerusalem."  And  again, 
somewhat  later,  when  the  king  in  impious  defiance  had 
burned  the  roll,  the  \  iphet  said :  "  He  shall  have  none  to 
sit  upon  the  throne  ot  David :  and  his  dead  body  shall  be 
cast  out  in  the  day  to  the  heat,  and  in  the  night  to  the 
frost"  {j^yi\\,  13-19;  xxxvi.  29-31). 

The  words  of  the  prophet  carried  with  them  the  impri- 
matur of  Jehovah.  They  pronounced  the  inevitable  sen- 
tence which  he  executed.  And  therefore,  though  we  have 
no  certain  record  of  the  manner  of  it,  it  is  more  than  prob- 
able that  on  his  return  from  his  second  journey  to  Babylon 
Jeremiah  received  the  tidings  of  the  death  of  his  inveterate 
foe.  There  are  several  traditions  as  to  his  death— one  that 
he  was  assassinated  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem ;  another 
that  he  fell  in  a  skirmish  with  raiders,  who  had  been  in- 
cited by  Nebuchadnezzar  to  desolate  the  neighborhood  of 
Jerusalem ;  another  that  he  was  enticed  to  the  camp  of  the 
king  of  Babylon,  and  there  treacherously  murdered — but 
he  died  as  he  lived,  dishonorably  and  miserably. 

(2)  Jeconiah. — His  was  a  reign  like  Napoleon's  after  his 
return  from  Elba — of  one  hundred  days.  He  was  eighteen 
when  he  was  called  to  the  throne,  and  he  occupied  it  for 
three  months  and  ten  days  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  9) ;  but  in  that 


THE  MINISTRY  Of  DESTRUCTION 


137 


I 


or 
lat 


brief  time  he  was  able  to  show  the  drift  of  his  character. 
"He  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord."  His  mother, 
Nehushta,  daughter  of  Elnathan,  whose  hands  had  been 
imbrued  in  the  murder  of  Urijah,  and  the  strong  heathen 
party  who  dominated  the  policy  of  the  court,  between  them 
molded  the  young  monarch  to  their  will. 

Jeremiah  uttered  words  of  awful  significance.  Passing 
through  the  streets  he  showed  the  marred  linen  girdle,  and 
foretold  the  doom  of  the  king  and  queen-mother.  "  Sit 
down,"  he  cried,  "  in  the  dust ;  for  the  crown  of  royalty 
shall  be  rolled  from  yom*  brow  to  the  ground.  The  cities 
in  the  south  country,  the  beautiful  flock  of  towns  and  vil- 
lages, are  already  in  the  hands  of  the  invader,  and  the 
whole  land  shall  shortly  be  carried  into  captivity,  because 
of  the  abominations,  the  pollution,  the  idolatries  that  have 
been  perpetrated  on  the  hills  of  the  field."  Then,  coming 
to  closer  dealings  with  the  royal  pair,  he  said  that  Coniah 
should  be  given  into  the  hands  of  them  that  sought  his  life, 
and  of  those  of  whom  he  was  afraid ;  that  Jehovah  would 
cast  his  mother  and  himself,  like  a  despised,  broken  vessel, 
into  another  country,  where  they  were  not  born ;  that  there 
they  should  die ;  and  that  there  should  be  no  return  to  the 
land  they  loved  (xiii.  18-21 ;  xxii.  28-30). 

Thus,  too,  it  befell.  Such  was  the  bitter  fierceness  of 
the  Chaldeans,  who  were  again  besieging  the  city  to  punish 
Jehoiakim's  perfidy,  that  nothing  would  appease  them  but 
the  surrender  of  the  persons  of  the  king  and  his  mother. 
There  was  no  alternative ;  and  so,  Josephus  tells  us,  a  sad 
procession  was  formed,  and  through  a  gateway,  which 
afterward  bore  the  king's  name,  but  was  bricked  up  so 
that  none  might  pass  by  a  path  which  had  been  the  -^cene 
of  such  a  disaster,  the  king,  his  mother,  the  nobles  and  offi- 
cials, went  forth  to  the  Chaldean  camp,  and  sat  down  on 
the  ground,  their  persons  robed  in  black  and  their  faces 


i 


138 


JEREMI/iH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


veiled.  By  this  time  Nebuchadnezzar  had  returned  from 
fighting  against  Pharaoh  Necho,  who  had  marched  to  the 
relief  of  his  ally,  but  had  been  finally  quelled ;  and  he  re- 
ceived in  person  the  submission  of  the  royal  fugitives 
(2  Kings  xxiv.  7). 

The  spoliation  of  the  city  followed.  The  Temple  was 
stripped  of  its  gold  and  treasures.  All  the  princes  and  the 
mighty  men  of  valor,  the  craftsmen  and  the  smiths,  the 
king's  harem  and  court  officials,  were  manacled  in  long 
Unes,  and  torn  from  their  beloved  country,  which  the 
majority  of  them  were  never  again  to  behold.  Ezekiel 
was  one  of  that  sad  procession,  and  it  seemed  as  though  a 
pitiful  wail  arose  from  the  whole  country — from  Lebanon 
and  Bashan  and  Abarim — as  the  exiles  wended  their  way 
to  their  distant  destination.  And  the  prophet  wept  sore, 
his  eye  ran  down  with  tears,  because  the  Lord's  flock  was 
taken  captive. 

(3)  The  Prophets, — ^The  prophets  were  a  large  and  influ- 
ential class.  Dating  from  the  days  of  Samuel,  their  schools 
had  poured  forth  a  succession  of  men  who  occupied  a 
unique  position  in  the  land  as  the  representatives  of  God. 
But  in  the  degenerate  days  of  which  we  are  now  writing, 
when  the  kingdom  of  Judah  was  rapidly  tottering  to  its 
fall,  they  seem  to  have  been  deeply  infected  by  the  prevail- 
ing vices  of  their  time.  They  were,  as  Isaiah  says,  "dumb 
dogs  which  could  not  bark."  Greedy  and  drunken,  lazy 
and  dissolute,  dreaming,  lying  down,  and  loving  to  slum- 
ber, they  denied  the  Lord,  and  said,  when  Jeremiah  spoke, 
"  It  is  not  he."  They  had  become  wind,  and  the  word  of 
God  was  not  in  them  (Isa.  Ivi.  9-12  ;  Jer.  v.  12,  13). 

It  must  have  been  very  painful  for  Jeremiah  to  oppose 
them  and  counteract  their  influence  on  the  people ;  but  he 
had  no  alternative.  His  heart  was  broken  and  his  bones 
shook ;  he  was  in  a  stupor  like  a  drunken  man,  and  like  a 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  DESTRUCTION 


>39 


man  whom  wine  had  overcome,  for  both  prophet  and  priest 
were  profane,  and  in  God's  own  house  wickedness  was 
rife.  Listen  to  these  terrible  words,  spoken  in  the  name 
of  Jehovah :  "  I  have  seen  also  in  the  prophets  of  Jerusalem 
a  horrible  thing :  they  commit  adultery,  and  walk  in  lies : 
they  strengthen  also  the  hands  of  evil-doers,  that  none 
doth  return  from  his  wickedness :  they  are  all  of  them  unto 
me  as  Sodom,  and  the  inhabitants  thereof  as  Gomorrah  " 
(xxiii.  9-14). 

Jeremiah  entreated  his  people  not  to  hearken  to  these 
men,  who  spoke  the  vision  of  their  own  heart,  and  not  out 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Lord.  Their  fatal  crime  was  to  live 
on  the  traditions  of  the  past  and  to  encourage  even  those 
who  walked  in  the  stubbornness  of  their  hearts,  by  assuring 
them  that  no  evil  should  come  on  them.  They  deliberately 
set  themselves  to  lessen  the  power  of  Jeremiah's  appeals 
and  protestations  by  the  promulgation  of  their  own  lying 
dreams,  as  though  they,  and  not  he,  were  in  Jehovah's 
secrets. 

Matters  came  to  a  pass  shortly  after  the  deportation  of 
Jeconiah:  Hananiah,  of  Gibeon,  which  was  one  of  the 
priestly  settlements,  rose  up  and  publicly  contradicted  Jere- 
miah when  he  was  speaking  in  the  Temple  in  the  presence 
of  the  priests  and  of  all  the  people.  Using  the  holy  name 
of  Jehovah,  he  declared  it  had  been  divinely  revealed  to 
him  that  in  two  years  Jeconiah  and  all  the  captives,  and 
all  the  sacred  vessels  which  Nebuchadnezzar  had  taken 
away,  would  come  again.  Instantly  Jeremiah  spoke  up 
from  amid  the  crowd.  "  Amen,"  he  cried :  "  would  that  it 
might  be  so ;  would  that  Jehovah  might  bring  again  the 
captivity ;  but  it  shall  not  be ;  nay,  it  cannot  be,  without 
canceling  words  that  have  been  uttered  by  him  through 
the  prophets  before  me,  and  of  old." 

Not  content,  however,  with  his  words,  the  false  prophet 


(•  :V: 


140 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


snatched  from  Jeremiah's  shoulders  the  wooden  yoke  which 
he  carried  for  the  purpose  of  perpetually  reminding  his  peo- 
ple and  the  neighboring  nations  that  they  must  serve  the 
king  of  Babylon  until  the  appointed  time  had  gone.  He 
broke  it  in  twain,  saying  that  similarly  God  within  two 
years  would  break  Nebuchadnezzar's  yoke.  Jeremiah  did 
not  prolong  the  altercation,  but  privately  told  Hananiah 
that  the  yoke  of  wood  would  be  replaced  by  one  of  iron, 
and  that  he  was  causing  the  people  to  trust  a  lie.  "  This 
year  thou  shalt  die,"  he  said,  as  he  turned  away,  and  two 
months  after  the  false  prophet  was  a  corpse. 

(4)  TAe  Surrounding  Nations. — On  two  occasions  Jere- 
miah protested  against  a  combination  of  the  surrounding 
nations  to  resist  the  growing  power  of  Babylon,  which 
without  doubt  was  fostered  by  the  neighboring  power  of 
Egypt.  On  the  first  occasion  he  said  that  they  would  have 
to  drink  the  cup  of  the  Lord's  fury ;  and  on  the  second, 
that  they  must  bear  the  yoke  of  Babylon.  "  Now  have  I 
given  all  these  lands  into  the  hand  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
the  king  of  Babylon,  my  servant.  .  .  .  And  all  nations  shall 
serve  him,  and  his  son,  and  his  son's  son,  until  the  very  time 
of  his  land  come  "  (Jer.  xxv.  and  xxvii.). 

All  this  must  have  laid  the  prophet  open  to  the  charge 
of  the  want  of  patriotism :  his  words  weakened  the  people 
of  the  land ;  his  influence  withheld  them  from  joining  a 
great  league  of  emancipation.  But  he  had  no  alternative. 
He  had  no  alternative  than  to  be  spokesman  of  that  great 
word  of  Jehovah,  "  I  will  overturn,  overturn,  overturn." 

(5)  The  Exiles. — The  false  prophets  had  suffered  the  fate 
of  their  nation,  and  were  with  the  rest  in  captivity ;  they  at 
once  endeavored  to  raise  the  hopes  of  the  exiles  by  prophe- 
sying a  speedy  return.  "It  is  of  no  use,"  they  said  in 
effect,  "to  build  houses,  or  plant  gardens,  or  enter  into 
marriage  relations.    In  a  short  time  we  shall  be  back  again 


i 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  DESTRUCTION 


Z41 


! 


in  Jerusalem."  The  ringleaders  were  Zedekiah  and  Ahab, 
men  of  giossly  immoral  life,  who  were  made  an  example 
of  by  being  roasted  ahve  (xxix.  21-23).  Still  the  ferment 
continued,  and  the  people  refused  to  settle  down  in  content- 
ment with  the  conditions  of  their  captivity. 

Jeremiah,  therefore,  wrote  a  letter,  which  was  intrusted 
to  two  men  of  high  rank,  friendly  to  himself,  whom  Zede- 
kiah, the  uncle  and  successor  of  Jeconiah,  sent  to  Babylon 
with  assurances  of  his  fidelity.  "  Yield  to  the  will  of  God," 
was  the  burden  of  the  letter.  "  Build,  plant,  settle."  **  Seek 
the  peace  of  the  city  whither  God  has  caused  you  to  be 
carried  away  captives,  and  pray  unto  the  Lord  for  it :  for 
in  the  peace  thereof  shall  ye  have  peace."  When  Shemaiah, 
one  of  these  false  prophets,  heard  this  letter,  he  wrote  off 
in  hot  haste  to  Zephaniah,  who  was  now  high  priest,  and 
demanded  that  the  prophet  should  be  put  into  stocks,  and 
his  head  into  a  collar,  as  a  madman.  The  high  priest, 
however,  contented  himself  with  reading  the  letter  to  Jere- 
miah, who  replied  by  sending  a  second  letter  to  the  exiles, 
assuring  them  that  God  would  punish  Shemaiah  and  his 
seed,  so  that  he  should  not  have  a  son  to  perpetuate  his 
name,  and  should  not  see  the  good  which  would  come  at 
the  end  of  the  predestined  time  (xxix.). 

These  deuLnciations  were  fraught  with  terror,  and  equally 
terrible  was  the  fate  which  befell  these  men.  It  may  be 
said,  "  Surely  they  were  patriots,  eager  for  the  deliverance 
of  their  people.  They  were  fanatical  enthusiasts,  not  in- 
tentional criminals.  They  mistook  their  hopes  for  revela- 
tions." But  it  should  be  remembered  that  they  were  also 
convicted  of  immoral  and  evil  lives.  Their  sins  had  blunted 
their  perceptions  of  the  divine  voice,  while  their  words 
pandered  to  their  people's  sins  and  encouraged  them  in 
their  lewd  idolatries.  It  was  as  vicious  and  fallen  men,  as 
well  as  false  prophets,  that  they  incurred  the  awful  woes 


143 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


which  befell  them,  both  from  the  lip  of  the  prophet  and 
the  hand  of  the  Almighty. 


II.  His  Coadjutor. — While  Jeremiah  was  exercising 
this  ministry  of  destruction  in  utter  loneliness  and  isola- 
tion, his  heart  must  have  often  misgiven  him.  Remember 
that  he  loved  his  country  with  all  the  passionate  patriotism 
of  which  tho  Jewish  nature  was  capable,  and  which  ex- 
presses itself  so  plaintively  in  the  Book  of  Lamentations. 
Matthew  Henry  says,  "It  is  not  easy  to  preach  Christ 
crucifiea  in  a  crucified  spirit."  But  Jeremiah  did  a  harder 
thing.  Though  for  forty  years  he  was  constantly  in  antago- 
nism with  the  sins  and  vices  of  the  people,  the  fountain  of 
tears  within  his  soul  seems  never  to  have  dried  up  or  be- 
come frozen  over.  He  preached  the  terrors  of  Sinai  with 
the  pathos  of  Calvary. 

It  was  just  because  he  loved  so  much  that  he  suffered  so 
keenly.  And  this  may  comfort  others  in  their  dark  sorrow 
and  despair  for  their  fellows.  They  say  that  their  natures 
are  too  tender  and  affectionate,  and  that  they  feel  every, 
thing  too  keenly,  as  though  to  infer  that  they  would  wish 
to  have  been  clothed  in  tougher  skin  and  cast  in  a  rougher 
mold.  But  surely  it  would  be  a  fatal  mistake  to  barter  a 
tender  heart,  with  its  faculty  of  suffering,  for  a  callous  one 
without  that  liability.  "Our  sorrow,"  says  Carlyle,  "is  the 
inverted  image  of  oiu:  nobleness.  The  depth  of  our  despair 
measures  what  capability  and  height  of  claim  we  have  to 
hope.  Black  smoke,  as  of  Tophet,  filling  all  your  universe, 
it  can  yet  by  true  heart-energy  become  flame  and  brilliancy 
of  heaven.     Courage  1 " 

You  fear  to  love  lest  you  may  have  to  suffer ;  but,  ah, 
how  infinitely  you  lose !  You  may  have  an  iro.munity 
from  one  sort  of  pain,  but  you  certainly  incur  the  pain  of 
a  selfish,  mean,  and  miserly  soul.     You  miss  the  valleys 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  DESTRUCTION 


»43 


ter  a 
one 
the 
pair 
e  to 
;rse, 
incy 


of  shadow  '*"•  'ou  also  miss  the  heights  of  transfiguration. 
You  save  yoiu  ife,  but  you  lose  it.  Suppose  that  Jere- 
miah had  put  away  the  heavenly  summons,  and  had  lived 
in  the  sequestered  ease  of  Anathoth :  he  might  have  secured 
a  respectable  and  peaceable  life,  but  Jehovah  would  never 
have  spoken  to  him ;  the  unseen  and  eternal  would  never 
have  unfolded  to  his  vision ;  he  would  never  have  felt  the 
supreme  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  he  had  done  his  best ; 
he  would  never  have  shone  like  a  star  amid  the  darkening 
clouds  of  Jerusalem's  fall ;  he  would  have  missed  the  hero's 
crown,  the  Master's  "  Well  done,"  and  the  exceeding  great 
reward. 

And  God  sent  him  an  ally  and  comrade.  In  the  heart 
of  the  exiles  Ezekiel  arose,  uttering  the  same  messages, 
though  clothed  in  the  superb  imagery  of  his  gorgeous  im- 
agination. He,  too,  denounced  his  people's  sins,  advised 
them  to  settle  in  the  land  of  exile,  and  spoke  of  the  cer- 
tain doom  of  the  people  and  city.  In  the  mouth  of  these 
two  witnesses  every  word  was  established.  Like  well-at- 
timed  instruments,  they  symphonized,  as  our  Lord  said  kin- 
dred souls  must,  when  they  ask  concerning  some  heavenly 
gift.  They  were  like  the  two  olive-trees  and  the  two  can- 
dlesticks, standing  before  the  Lord  of  the  earth.  They  had 
power  with  God  and  man;  shutting  the  heaven,  turning 
the  waters  into  blood,  and  smiting  the  earth  with  a  ciurse. 
So  the  beast  made  war  with  them,  as  he  always  will.  Theirs 
was  no  easy  task,  for  they  were  hated  by  those  whom  their 
words  tormented.  But  God  has  long  since  called  them  to 
his  throne,  where  they  stand  in  the  foremost  rank  of  those 
who,  having  fulfilled  the  will  of  God,  have  received  his 
welcome  and  reward. 


I 


III.  The  Need  of  this  Ministry. — It  must  he  fulfilled 
with  the  umonverted.     For  lack  of  it  much  gospel  effort 


iiSil 


144 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


fails.  Of  what  use  are  appeals  to  come  to  Jesus  until  the 
sinner  has  been  led  to  see  the  awful  peril  which  he  has  in- 
curred ?  Of  what  avail  to  extol  the  balm  of  Gilead  until 
the  soul  has  heard  and  accepted  the  diagnosis  of  its  fatal 
condition  ?  Of  what  advantage  to  offer  a  seat  in  the  life- 
boat, so  long  as  the  sailor  is  full  of  confidence  in  his  ship, 
and  is  unaware  of  its  crazy  and  unseaworthy  condition  ? 
One  of  the  most  important  ministries  of  the  servant  of  God 
is  to  destroy  false  confidence,  to  pull  down  refuges  of  lies, 
and  to  show  *he  utter  futility  of  venturing  on  the  sea  of 
eternity  in  any  o  her  cr<tft  ^han  that  which  Christ  launched 
from  the  cross  of  Calvary. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  heal  the  wound  of  the  heart  too 
lightly.  The  consolations  of  the  gospel  are  very  well ;  but 
they  must  be  withheld  until  men  have  seen  their  state  be- 
fore God,  and  have  been  held  over  the  mouth  of  the 
bottomless  pit  of  their  own  sin.  The  greatest  revivals 
always  begin  in  a  thorough  preaching  of  the  law,  press- 
ing home  its  demands  upon  the  consciences  of  the  un- 
godly. Nor  is  it  enough  to  dwell  in  general  denuncia- 
tion ;  we  must  particularize  ^till  conscience  cries,  "  Thou 
art  the  man  1 " 

//  must  be  fulfilled  with  those  who  lack  assurance.  When 
men  say  that  they  cannot  believe,  it  is  probably  because 
they  are  harboring  some  evil  thing  in  their  hearts,  or  are 
conscious  of  some  unrepaired  wrong  in  their  lives.  These 
must  be  dealt  with.  There  must  be  the  righting,  so  far 
as  possible,  of  ancient  injuries ;  the  restitution  of  ill-gotten 
gains ;  the  seeking  of  forgiveness ;  the  adjustment  of  wrong. 
The  fixed  purpose  to  do  this,  when  an  opportunity  presents 
itself,  will  be  sufficient  to  remove  the  stumbling-block  to 
faith,  which  will  gush  out  with  the  sparkle  and  song  of  an 
imprisoned  brook.  The  inability  to  realize  acceptance  with 
God  very  often  points  to  something  that  is  grieving  the 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  DESTRUCTION 


»45 


far 
ten 

»g. 
Its 

I  to 

in 

Ith 


Spirit,  and  at  such  times  the  searching  ministry  of  probing 
and  testing  and  demolition  is  invaluable. 

//  must  be  fulfilled  in  the  higher  attainments  of  the  divine 
life.  As  our  obedience  grows  ou:  light  will  grow.  And  in 
the  growing  dawn  we  shall  become  aware  of  evils  that  had 
passed  without  our  notice.  The  Holy  Spirit  will  lead  us 
to  discriminate  between  the  wrong  and  the  right,  and  re- 
veal  what  may  be  hindering  us.  Then  as  he  destroys  one 
subterfuge  after  another,  plows  up  the  fallow  ground,  dis- 
inters the  buried  secrets,  reveals  us  to  oiu^elves,  we  may 
gratefully  accept  his  ministry,  which  destroys  to  build,  which 
overthrows  to  plant,  which  leads  us  through  the  grave  that 
he  may  minister  eternal  life.  Nor  must  we  overlook  the 
responsibility  of  exhorting  one  another,  of  urging  to  re- 
pentance, and  so  much  the  more  as  we  see  the  day  ap- 
proaching. 


XVI. 

(Jeremiah  li.) 

"  God  spake,  and  gave  us  the  word  to  keep; 
Bade  never  fold  the  hands,  nor  sleep 
'Mid  a  faithless  world — at  watch  and  ward, 
Till  Christ  at  the  end  relieve  our  guard. 
By  his  servant  Moses  the  watch  was  set : 
Though  near  upon  cock-crow,  we  keep  it  yet." 

Browning. 


IT  was  a  very  deserted  Jerusalem  in  which  Jeremiah 
dwelt,  after  King  Jehoiachin,  his  household  and  court, 
princes  and  mighty  men  of  valor,  had  been  carried  off  to 
Babylon.  It  was  impossible  to  take  ten  thousand  of  those 
that  constituted  the  bone  and  muscle  of  the  state  without 
leaving  an  attenuated  and  weakened  residuum.  Still  the 
fertility  and  natural  resources  of  the  land  were  so  consid- 
erable as  to  give  hope  of  its  comparative  prosperity,  as  a 
trailing  vine  dependent  on  Babylon  (Ezek.  xvii.). 

Mattaniah,  the  third  son  of  Josiah — who  was  a  boy  of 
ten  years  of  age  when  tidings  came  of  the  awful  catas- 
trophe at  Megiddo,  but  who  was  now  in  his  twenty-first 
year — was  called  to  the  throne  by  the  conqueror,  and  re- 
quired to  hold  it  under  a  solemn  oath  of  allegiance,  which 
was  asseverated  and  sanctioned  by  an  appeal  to  Jehovah 
himself.  It  was  as  though  the  heathen  monarch  thought 
to  make  insubordination  impossible  on  the  part  of  the 

>  146 


JEREMIAH'S  GRANDEST  ODE 


147 


young  monarch,  since  his  word  of  honor  was  ratified  under 
such  solemn  and  august  conditions — conditions  which  under 
similar  circumstances  the  heathen  king  would  probably 
have  felt  binding  and  final.  Alas!  how  often  heathen  men 
have  attached  an  importance  to  religious  appeals  which  has 
shamed  religious  professors  !  And  how  often  they  must 
have  marveled  that  we  could  so  lightly  disregard  them ! 
(2  Chron.  xxxvi.  13;  Ezek.  xvii.  13). 

At  the  instance  of  his  conqueror  the  young  king  took 
the  name  Zedekiah,  "  the  righteousness  of  Jehovah."  It 
was  an  auspicious  sign;  every  encouragement  was  given 
him  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his  illustrious  father. 
And  throughout  his  reign  he  gave  evident  tokens  of  desir- 
ing better  things ;  but  he  was  weak  and  irresolute,  lacking 
the  strength  of  purpose  necessary  to  assert  himself  for  good 
amid  the  confused  counsels  that  agitated  his  court.  He 
respected  Jeremiah,  but  did  not  dare  publicly  to  espou&e 
his  cause,  showing  him  his  royal  favor  by  stealth. 

Meanwhile  the  kingdom  was  violently  agitated  by  rumors 
from  every  side,  which  encouraged  the  hope  that  ere  long 
the  power  of  Babylon  would  be  broken  and  the  exiles  re- 
turn. These  thoughts  were  rife  among  the  exiles  them- 
selves, as  we  have  seen ;  they  were  diligently  fostered  by 
the  false  prophets,  who  gladly  fell  in  with  the  current  of 
the  popular  wish ;  and  there  seem  to  have  been  various 
political  considerations  which  favored  the  expectation  of  a 
speedy  reversal  of  conditions  that  chafed  the  proud  Jewish 
heart  beyond  endurance. 

About  this  time  there  was  a  revolt  in  Elam  against  Baby- 
lon. What  if  this  should  fjpread  until  the  empire  itself  be- 
came disintegrated  !  But  Jeremiah,  by  the  voice  of  God, 
said,  "  It  shall  not  be :  the  bow  of  Elam  shall  be  broken, 
her  king  and  princes  destroyed,  her  people  scattered  toward 
the  four  winds  of  heaven  "  (xlix.  34-39). 


148 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


Then  there  was  the  seething  discontent  of  the  neighbor- 
ing peoples,  who,  though  they  had  accompanied  the  in- 
vader as  allies,  were  eager  to  regain  their  independence, 
and  desircid  to  draw  Judah  into  one  vast  confederacy,  with 
Egypt  as  its  base.  "  No,"  said  Jeremiah,  "  it  must  not  be : 
Nebuchadnezzar  is  doing  the  behest  of  Jehovah ;  all  the 
nations  are  to  serve  him,  and  his  son,  and  his  son's  son  " 
(xxvii.  6,  7).  Perhaps  it  was  at  Jeremiah's  suggestion  that 
Zedekiah  at  this  time  made  a  journey  to  Babylon  to  pay 
homage  to  his  suzerain  and  assure  him  of  his  fidelity. 

All  through  the  troubles  that  followed  Jeremiah  pursued 
the  same  policy.  He  asserted  that  the  state  of  the  cap- 
tives in  Babylon,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  remnant 
at  Jerusalem,  was  as  good  figs  to  bad  (xxiv.) ;  when  Pha- 
raoh's army  produced  a  temporary  diversion  and  compelled 
the  Chaldeans  to  draw  off,  he  said  that  they  would  cer- 
tainly return,  set  fire  to  palace  and  Temple,  and  bum  the 
city  (xxxvii.),  and  his  policy  was  so  well  Lnown  among  the 
Chaldeans  that  in  the  final  overthrow  they  gave  him  his 
life  and  allowed  him  to  choose  where  he  would  dwell  (xl.). 

Often  it  must  have  seemed  to  his  choicest  friends  as 
though  his  advice  were  pusillanimous  and  wanting  in  the 
courage  of  faith.  Did  he  really  favor  Babylon  above  Jeru- 
salem? Was  he  traitorous  to  the  best  interests  of  his  peo- 
ple ?  But  if  ever  they  entertained  such  questionings  they 
must  have  been  suddenly  and  completely  disillusionized 
when  he  summoned  them  to  hear  the  tremendous  indict- 
ment he  had  composed  against  Babylon  in  the  early  months 
of  Zedekiah's  reign,  together  with  the  graphic  description 
of  its  fall.  A  copy  of  this  prophecy  was  intrusted  to 
Seraiah,  the  chief  chamberlain,  who  went  in  the  train  of 
Zedekiah  to  Babylon,  with  instructions  that  he  should  read 
it  privately  to  the  exiles,  and  then,  weighting  it  with  a 
stone,  cast  it  into  the  midst  of  the  Euphrates  with  the  sol- 


JEREMIAH'S  GRANDEST  ODE 


149 


>i 


emn  words,  that  must  have  thrilled  the  bystanders :  "  Thus 
shall  Babylon  sink,  and  shall  not  rise  again,  because  of  the 
evil  which  God  will  bring  upon  her :  and  her  might  shall 
wax  faint "  (li.  59-64). 

I.  The  Prophecy  of  the  Fall  of  Babylon. — The 
Glory  of  Babylon. — In  glowing  imagery  Jeremiah  depicts 
her  glory  and  beauty.  She  had  been  a  golden  cup  in  the 
hand  of  Jehovah,  his  battle-ax  and  weapons  of  war.  Her 
influence  was  carried  far  and  wide.  She  dwelt  by  many 
waters,  rich  in  treasure,  and  the  wonder  of  the  earth.  Like 
a  mighty  tree,  she  stretched  her  branches  over  the  sur- 
rounding lands.  Queen  of  the  nations,  she  was  at  ease 
and  thought  to  see  trouble  no  more.  "  Is  not  this  great 
Babylon,"  her  greatest  monarch  cried,  "  which  I  have  built 
for  the  royal  dwelling-place  by  the  might  of  my  power, 
and  for  the  glory  of  my  majesty  ?  " 

T^e  Divine  Controversy. — ^The  Almighty  had  used  her  for 
great  purposes  of  disintegration,  doing  among  the  nations 
much  the  same  sort  of  work  that  the  icebergs  did  among 
the  rocks  of  the  primitive  world,  or  that  the  frosts  do  each 
winter  in  pulverizing  the  dust  of  the  earth.  But  she  had 
abused  for  unrighteous  and  selfish  ends  the  power  which 
God  had  intrusted  to  her.  Her  execution  of  the  divine 
purpose,  her  administration  of  the  divine  decrees,  had  been 
cruel  in  the  extreme.  The  track  of  her  aiinies  had  been 
marked  with  ruthless  and  wanton  bloodshed.  She  had 
floated  to  the  eminence  of  another  Ararat,  on  the  watei-s 
of  another  flood,  an  ocean  of  human  suffering.  And 
therefore  Jehovah  set  nets  for  her,  and  caught  her  as  a 
wild  beast.  He  opened  his  armory  and  brought  out  the 
weapons  of  his  wrath. 

But  God  was  especially  against  Babylon  for  her  treat- 
ment of  his  people.    The  inhabitants  of  Zion  are  intro- 


ISO 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


duced,  crjring,  "  The  king  of  Babylon  has  devoured  us,  he 
hath  crushed  us,  and  he  hath  filled  himself  with  our  delica- 
cies. The  violence  done  to  me  and  mine  be  upon  Babylon." 
Therefore  the  Most  High  would  take  up  their  cause  and 
take  vengeance  on  their  behalf.  "  As  Babylon  caused  the 
slain  of  Israel  to  fall,  so  at  Babylon  shall  fall  the  slain  of 
all  the  earth :  for  the  Lord  is  a  God  of  recompenses ;  he 
shall  surely  requite." 

TTie  Summons  to  her  Foes. — The  standard  is  reared,  and 
around  it,  at  the  sounding  of  the  trumpet,  the  nations 
gather.  The  wild  tribes  of  Ararat  and  Armenia  are  there, 
the  kings  of  the  Medes,  the  governors  thereof,  and  all  the 
lands  of  her  empire.  The  sure-footed  shaggy  horses  of 
the  mountaineers  are  like  the  rough  locusts  that  fill  the 
land  with  their  countless  multitudes.  Sacrifices  are  offered 
to  propitiate  the  gods  of  battle,  and  the  tide  of  invasion 
begins  to  flow  against  and  around  the  massive  walls  of  the 
city.  The  very  earth  trembles  beneath  the  weight  of  the 
armaments  and  the  tread  of  the  troops.  "Behold,"  the 
prophet  cries,  "  a  people  cometh  from  the  north,  and  a  great 
nation,  and  many  kings  shall  be  stirred  up  from  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth.  They  lay  hold  on  bow  and  spear: 
they  are  cruel,  and  have  no  mercy :  their  voice  roareth  like 
the  sea,  and  they  ride  upon  horses,  every  one  set  in  array, 
as  a  man  to  the  battle,  against  thee,  O  daughter  of  Baby- 
lon" (1.  41,  42,  R.V.). 

The  Attack. — ^The  archers  invest  the  city  on  every  side 
so  that  none  may  escape.  They  are  bidden  to  shoot  at 
her  and  not  spare  their  arrows.  Now  the  battle-shout  is 
raised,  and  an  assault  is  made  against  her  walls.  See!  she 
submits;  she  gives  her  hand  in  token;  her  bulwarks  are 
fallen ;  the  bars  of  her  gates  are  broken  through ;  her  walls 
are  thrown  down ;  the  mighty  men  of  Babylon  have  for- 
borne to  fight ;  their  might  has  failed ;  they  have  become  as 


JEREMIAH'S  GRANDEST  ODE 


151 


women.  Lo!  the  fire  breaks  out  amid  her  dwelling-places. 
The  messengers,  running  with  similar  tidings  from  different 
quarters  of  the  city,  come  to  show  the  king  of  Babylon 
that  the  fords  are  in  the  hand  of  the  foe  and  that  the  city 
is  taken. 

Tht  Overthrow  of  the  City. — ^Then  the  captured  city  is 
given  up  to  the  savage  soldiery.  Nameless  wrongs  are 
inflicted  on  the  defenceless  and  weak.  There  is  plimder 
enough  to  satisfy  the  most  rapacious.  Her  granaries  are 
despoiled,  her  treasuries  ransacked,  her  stores  winnowed. 
All  the  captive  peoples  who  had  been  held  by  her  in  cruel 
bondage  go  free,  and  especially  the  Jews.  "  Let  us  for- 
sake her,"  they  cry,  "  and  let  us  go  every  one  into  his  own 
country :  for  her  judgment  reacheth  unto  heaven,  and  is 
lifted  up  even  to  the  skies." 

"  And  now  her  cities  are  become  a  desolation,  a  dry  land, 
and  a  desert,  a  land  wherein  no  man  dwelleth,  neither  doth 
any  son  of  man  pass  through ;  but  the  jackals  dwell  there, 
and  it  lies  waste  from  generation  to  generation,  as  when  God 
overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  and  the  neighbor  cities 
thereof." 

Such  were  the  predictions  of  Jeremiah  concerning  the 
greatest  city  which  perhaps  the  world  has  ever  seen,  and 
which  was  then  rising  to  the  zenith  of  her  power  and  glory. 
Seventy  years  were  to  pass  before  his  words  would  be  ful- 
filled ;  but  history  itself  could  hardly  be  more  definite  and 
precise.  Those  who  can  compare  this  prophecy  with  the 
story  of  the  fall  of  Babylon,  and  with  the  researches  of 
Layard,  will  find  how  exactly  every  detail  was  repeated, 
even  to  the  burning  of  the  reeds  in  the  river-bed,  the  meet- 
ing of  post  with  post  on  the  night  of  its  fall,  the  deep 
stupor  with  which  the  fumes  of  wine  had  dazed  the  brave 
men  of  Babylon,  and  the  utter  desolation  which  for  cen- 
turies has  reigned  over  her  site. 


15* 


JEREMI/IH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


"  They  drank  wine,  and  praised  the  gods  of  gold,  and  of 
silver,  of  brass,  of  iron,  of  wood,  and  of  stone.  In  the 
same  hour  came  forth  fingers  of  a  man's  hand,  and  wrote 
over  against  the  candlestick  upon  the  plaster  of  the  wall 
of  the  king's  palace.  ...  In  that  night  was  Belshazzar  the 
king  of  the  Chaldeans  slain.  And  Darius  the  Median  took 
the  kingdom." 

II.  Babylon  the  Great. — In  every  age  of  the  world 
Babylon  has  had  its  counterpart.  Over  against  the  line  of 
Seth,  with  its  reverence  for  God,  was  that  of  Cain,  where 
arts  and  science  were  cradled  and  nurtured.  Babel's  tower 
cast  its  shadow  over  the  primitive  races  of  mankind.  Over 
against  Shem  was  Ham;  over  against  Abraham,  Chedor- 
laomer;  over  against  Israel,  Nineveh;  over  against  Jeru- 
salem, Babylon;  over  against  the  Church,  Rome;  over 
against  the  New  Jerusalem,  Babylon  the  Great;  over 
against  the  bride  of  the  Lamb,  the  scarlet  woman  riding 
upon  the  beast.  Where  God  has  built  up  his  kingdom,  the 
devil  has  always  counterfeited  it  by  some  travesty  of  his  own. 

Jeremiah  comforted  his  heart  amid  the  desolations  which 
fell  thick  and  heavily  on  his  beloved  fatherland,  by  antici- 
pating the  inevitable  doom  of  the  oppressor.  And  his 
words,  read  amid  the  exiles  of  Babylon,  as  they  sat  beside 
the  rivers,  and  wept,  and  hanged  their  harps  upon  the  wil- 
lows, may  have  inspired  that  marvelous  outburst  of  faith 
and  patriotism  and  undying  hatred — 

"O  daughter  of  Babylon,  thou  art  to  be  destroyed; 
Happy  shall  he  be  that  rewardeth  thee  as  thou  hast  served  us. 
Happy  shall  he  be  that  taketh  and  dasheth  thy  little  ones 
Against  the  rock." 

In  the  same  way,  throughout  the  persecutions  of  the 
empire,  when  paganism  made  her  awful  attempts  to  stamp 


JEREMIAH'S  GRANDEST  ODE 


153 


out  Christianity ;  and  afterward  amid  the  horrors  of  inqui- 
sition, when  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  sought  to  extin> 
guish  the  true  light  of  the  gospel,  which  in  no  age  has 
been  without  witnesses,  the  suffering  children  of  God  have 
turned  to  the  Book  of  Revelation  to  read  the  doom  of  that 
antichristian  power  which,  under  the  guise  of  paganism  or 
of  papalism,  always  sets  itself  against  God,  and  is  set  on 
by  the  undying  haired  of  the  devil.  Her  fate  is  described 
in  words  that  strongly  recall  those  of  Jeremiah.  She,  too, 
had  the  golden  cup,  and  was  drunk  with  blood,  and  reigned 
over  the  kings  of  the  earth.  She,  too,  is  destroyed  by  a 
combination  of  those  that  had  owned  her  sway.  A  voice 
is  heard  bidding  God's  people  come  out  from  her,  lest  they 
be  involved  in  her  overthrow.  It  is  rendered  unto  her 
as  she  rendered,  and  double  h  mingled  into  her  cup.  As 
Seraiah  cast  a  stone  into  the  Euphrates,  so  a  strong  angel 
casts  a  great  millstone  into  the  sea,  saying,  "  Thus  with  a 
mighty  fall  is  Babylon,  the  great  city,  cast  down,  and  shall 
be  found  no  more."  And  her  site  becomes  the  haunt  of 
demons,  and  a  hold  of  every  unclean  and  hateful  bird ;  the 
voice  of  harpers  and  minstrels  forever  silenced ;  the  light 
of  the  household  lamp  forever  quenched ;  the  voice  of  the 
millstone  forever  still. 

Prophetic  students  have  always  identified  this  great  per- 
secuting power  with  Rome,  the  city  of  the  seven  hills ;  and 
if  this  interpretation  be  correct,  without  doubt  in  the  mil- 
lennial age  her  site  will  be  as  desolate  as  that  of  Babylon 
has  been  for  more  than  two  thousand  years.  But  one  is 
disposed  to  enlarge  the  scope  of  the  prophe^'y,  and  to  be- 
lieve that  every  form  of  anti-Christian  power,  whether  sys- 
tems of  false  philosophy  or  structures  of  ancient  supersti- 
tion, or  gigantic  wrongs  like  the  drink  traffic  and  the  opium 
trade,  shall  wither  and  die  before  the  all-conquering  might 
of  Immanuel,  who  was  manifested  to  destroy  the  works  of 


Hii 


»54 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


the  devil.  He  must  reign  till  all  enemies  are  put  beneath 
his  feet.  Then  shall  be  heard  in  heaven  the  voice  of  a 
great  multitude,  as  the  voice  of  many  waters  and  as  the 
voice  of  mighty  thunders,  saying,  "  Halleluiah :  for  the 
Lord  our  God,  the  Almighty,  reigneth." 

Let  us  strengthen  our  confidence  in  the  certain  preva- 
lence of  good  over  evil,  of  the  Church  over  the  world,  and 
of  Christ  over  Satan,  as  we  consider  the  precise  fulfillment 
of  Jeremiah's  predictions  concerning  the  fall  ot  Babylon. 
"  So  let  all  thine  enemies  perish,  O  Lord :  but  let  them  that 
love  thee  be  ps  the  sun  when  he  g^i;th  forth  in  his  might." 


in.  Our  own  Babylon. — Each  heart  has  its  special 
form  of  sin  to  whica  it  is  liable,  and  by  yielding  to  which 
it  has  been  perpetually  overthrown.  How  bitter  have  been 
your  tears  and  self-reproach !  How  you  have  chafed  and 
foamed  beneath  the  strong  iron  bit  of  your  tyrant!  How 
hopeless  your  struggles  to  escape  from  the  tormenting  net, 
whose  meslies  refused  to  break,  while  every  plunge  only  en- 
tangled you  more  tightly  in  its  folds  ! 

But  there  is  a  deliverance  for  you,  as  for  those  weak  and 
misguided  but  suffering  Jews.  How  exactly  your  life-his- 
tory is  delineated  in  theirs  !  They  were  the  children  of 
God ;  so  are  you.  They  might  have  lived  in  an  impreg- 
nable fortress  of  God's  covenant  protection ;  so  might  you. 
They  forfeited  this  by  their  disobedience  and  unbelief ;  so 
have  you.  They  tried  t :  compensate  for  the  loss  of  God's 
keeping  power  by  heroic  resolutions  and  efforts,  and  by 
alliance  with  neighboring  peoples;  so  have  you.  They 
utterly  failed,  and  were  crushed  as  a  moth  in  a  child's 
hand;  so  has  it  been  with  you,  They  almost  renounced 
hope ;  this,  too,  is  your  case — you  hardly  dare  hope  for 
deliverance.  But  as  God  saved  them  by  his  own  right 
hand,  so  will  he  save  you.    And  as  Babylon  was  so  utterly 


( 


h 


JEREMIAH'S  GRANDEST  ODE 


»55 


quelled  that  it  ceased  to  be  an  object  of  alarm,  so  God  is 
able  so  entirely  to  deliver  you  that  you  shall  no  more  fear 
or  be  afraid ;  you  shall  see  the  bodies  of  your  taskmasters 
dead  upon  the  sea-shore. 

Accept  these  rules  if  you  would  have  this  blessed  deliver^ 
ance: 

(i)  Put  out  of  your  life  all  known  sin.  Are  there  vows 
that  ought  never  to  have  been  made?  Recall  them !  Are 
there  wrongs  that  lie  back  in  the  past,  which  can  be 
righted?  Right  them  !  Are  there  secret  habits  and  prac- 
tices which  eat  out  your  heart?  Be  willing  to  be  set  free, 
and  deliberately  tell  God  so.  So  far  as  you  are  concerned, 
put  away  the  iiiols  that  have  provoked  God  to  jealousy. 

(2)  Intrust  the  keeping  of  your  soul  to  God.  You  can- 
not control  it,  but  he  can.  He  made  you,  and  must  be 
able  to  keep  you.  One  of  his  angels  has  power  enough 
to  bind  the  devil ;  surely  then  the  Lord  of  all  angels  can 
deliver  you  from  the  accursed  demons  that  make  sport  of 
you.  If  Christ  in  his  human  weakness  cleared  the  Temple, 
he  must  be  able  to  drive  the  foul  things  from  your  heart, 
and  when  once  they  are  out  it  will  be  easy  for  him  to  keep 
tiiem  out.  In  his  ascension  he  was  raised  above  all  the 
principalities  and  powers  of  darkness,  and  you  were  raised 
with  him,  too,  if  you  only  knew  it;  certainly  the  living 
Christ  can  tread  your  Hon  and  dragon  beneath  his  feet. 
You  cannot,  but  he  can.  Put  the  case  deliberately,  thought- 
fully, calmly  into  his  hand.  Do  not  say,  "  I  will  try,"  but, 
"  I  will  trust."  Do  not  look  at  your  faith,  but  at  him.  Do 
not  cry,  "  Help  me! "  for  that  implies  that  you  are  going  to 
do  some  and  he  some,  and  your  part  will  inevitably  vitiate 
all ;  but  cry, "  Keep  me ! "  thus  throwing  the  entire  responsi- 
bility on  him. 

(3)  Reckon  that  the  Almighty  Saviour  accepts  your  de- 
posit at  the  moment  of  your  making  it.    As  it  leaves  your 


156 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


hand  it  passes  into  his.  Be  sure  that  he  has  undertaken  it 
all  for  you.  Do  not  try  io  feel  that  he  has,  but  reckon  that 
he  has.  Do  not  go  over  and  over  the  act  of  committal  to 
see  whether  it  was  rightly  done.  Make  it  as  well  as  you 
can,  or  ask  him  to  take  what  you  but  ineffectively  transfer. 
Never  doubt  that  he  reads  your  motive  and  desire,  even 
though  you  fail  to  do  as  you  would,  and  that  he  accepts 
the  eager  willing  for  the  perfect  doing.  Then  steadfastly 
resist  every  suggestion  to  doubt  him.  Dare  to  say  a  hun- 
dred times  a  day,  "  Jesus  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have 
committed  to  him :  I  am  a  worm,  weak,  witless,  worthless ; 
but  the  Son  of  God  has  me  in  his  safe-keeping ;  he  hath 
delivered,  he  doth  deliver,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  he  will 
yet  deliver."  You  may  have  no  glad  emotion,  no  paean  of 
victory,  no  share  of  ecstasy :  never  mind ;  lie  still  and  trust 
him.  The  lion  may  roar  all  around,  but  the  weary,  tired 
sheep  vill  lie  within  the  fold  absolutely  safe,  because  the 
Shepherd  interposes  his  mighty  keeping  between  it  and 
every  dreaded  ill. 


XVII. 

4oio  a  Eteb  9itoob  m  a  pillar. 

(Jeremiah  xxiv.,  xxxiv.,  xxxvii.) 

"  Thoa  wast  alone  through  thy  redemption  vigil, 
Thy  friends  had  fled ; 
The  Aiigel  at  the  garden  from  thee  parted ; 

And  solitude  instead, 
More  than  the  scourge  or  cross,  O  Tender-hearted! 
Under  the  crown  cf  thorns,  bowed  down  thy  head. 

"  But  I,  amid  the  torture  and  the  taunting, 
I  have  had  t!iee! 
Thy  hand  was  holding  my  hand  fast  and  faster, 

Thy  voice  was  close  to  me : 
And  glorious  eyes  said,  '  Follow  me,  thy  Master, 
Smile  as  I  smile  thy  faithfulness  to  see.' " 

Mrs.  Hamilton  King. 

TO  a  sensitive  nature  it  is  an  agony  to  stand  alone.  By 
a  swifl  and  unerring  instinct  such  a  soul  can  detect 
what  is  in  men's  hearts ;  and  when  it  knows  intuitively  that 
the  sympathy  for  which  it  yearns  is  dried  up  like  a  sum- 
mer brook ;  that  interest  has  changed  to  indifference,  and 
warmth  of  friendship  to  the  coldness  of  disdain — whether 
in  society  or  in  the  great  world  of  human  life — its  energy 
ebbs,  and  its  native  power  of  influence  is  frozen  at  its 
spring.  To  many,  the  sense  of  being  esteemed  and  loved 
is  the  very  breath  of  life.  They  would  scorn  flattery  and 
the  adulation  of  wealth  or  fashion ;  they  are  quite  content 
to  dwell  among  their  own  people ;  but  they  are  so  consti- 

157 


158 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


tuted  as  to  require  an  atmosphere  of  sympathy  for  the  full 
forthputting  of  their  powers. 

Many  strong  and  stalwart  souls,  cast  in  an  heroic  mold, 
have  no  experience  of  this  sensitive  and  tender  disposition. 
It  is  well  that  they  have  not.  They  were  bom  to  be  the 
discoverers,  the  pioneers,  the  soldiers  of  the  race;  theirs 
the  ribs  of  iron  and  the  nerves  of  steel ;  theirs  the  courage 
which  mounts  higher  on  opposition  and  ill-will.  They  will 
never  realize  the  cost  at  which  those  do  their  work  and 
bear  their  testimony  who  have  much  of  the  woman  in 
their  nature,  with  its  faculty  of  insight,  its  warmth  of  emo- 
tion, its  keen  sensitiveness  to  praise  or  hate,  its  yearning 
for  sympathy,  the  smile  of  approbation,  the  kind  word  of 
cheer. 

Jeremiah  was  one  of  the  latter  class :  tender,  shrink- 
ing, sensitive,  with  a  vast  capacity  for  emotion,  strong  to 
hate,  and  therefore  to  love,  not  constituted  by  nature  to 
stand  alone.  But  herein  let  us  adore  that  grace  which 
stepped  into  his  life  and  for  forty  years  made  him  "  a  de- 
fenced  city,  and  an  iron  pillar,  and  brazen  walls  against  the 
whole  land  " — against  princes,  priests,  and  people.  They 
indeed  fought  against  him,  but  could  not  prevail,  because 
God  was  with  him.  He  outlasted  all  his  foes,  and  main- 
tained the  standard  to  life's  end.  And  this  marvelous 
endurance  and  steadfastness  of  spirit  was  nowhere  so  con- 
spicuous as  during  the  last  months  of  his  nation's  independ- 
ence. We  must  tell  part  of  this  story  in  this  chapter,  that 
none  may  miss  its  helpful  inspiration,  because,  if  the  pres- 
ence of  God  could  do  so  much  for  him,  and  for  so  long,  it 
is  sufficient  for  the  weakest  child  of  his  that  may  read  these 
words. 


I.  Jeremiah's  Attitude  toward  the  King. — We  gain 
much  information  concerning  the  situation  at  Jerusalem, 


HOiy  A  REED  STOOD  AS  A  PILLAR 


«59 


during  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  from  the  pages  of  Ezekiet, 
who,  though  resident  in  the  land  of  the  exile,  faithfully  re- 
flected, and  in  prophetic  vision  anticipated,  what  was  trans- 
piring in  the  beloved  city,  to  which  his  thoughts  were  in- 
cessantly directed.  His  prophecies  are  most  valuable  and 
interesting  when  read  in  this  light. 

Zedekiah,  as  we  have  seen,  on  ascending;  the  throne, 
bound  himself  under  the  most  solemn  sanctions  to  be  loyal 
to  the  supremacy  of  Babylon ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
at  the  time  he  fully  intended  to  be  faithful,  the  more  espe- 
cially as,  at  Nebuchadnezzar's  command,  he  took  the  oath 
of  allegiance  in  the  sacred  name  of  Jehovah.  But  he  was 
weak  and  young,  and  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  strong 
court  party  that  favored  an  alliance  with  Egypt  and  the 
casting  off  of  the  Chaldean  yoke. 

Two  years  before  the  catastrophe  befell,  Ezekiel  clearly 
foretold  what  was  about  to  happen.  He  foresaw  the 
embassy  sent  to  Pharaoh  requesting  horses  and  people, 
and  asked  indignantly,  "  Shall  he  prosprr  ?  shall  he  escape 
that  doeth  such  things?  or  si.  ail  he  break  the  covenant,  and 
be  delivered  ?  "  And  he  followed  up  his  bitter  remonstrances 
by  the  awful  words,  "  As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  surely 
in  the  place  where  the  king  dwelleth  that  made  him  king, 
whose  oath  he  despised,  and  whose  covenant  he  brake,  even 
with  him  in  the  midst  of  Babylon  he  shall  die.  Neither 
shall  Pharaoh  with  his  mighty  army  and  great  company 
make  for  him  in  the  war"  (Ezek.  xvii.  11-21). 

Jeremiah,  as  we  know,  earnestly  dissuaded  both  king 
and  princes  from  entering  into  the  alliance  which  was  being 
advocated  between  Judah  and  the  neighboring  states,  and 
insisted,  in  the  face  of  the  false  prophets,  that  the  residue 
of  the  vessels  left  by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  the  Temple  would 
certainly  be  transported,  as  the  rest  had  been,  to  Babylon, 
if  the  mad  project  were  persisted  in  (xxvii.).    Notwithstand- 


x6o 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  'hiiOPHET 


ing  all  these  remonstrances,  however,  the  confederacy  was 
formed,  and  in  a  fatal  moment  Zedekiah  renounced  his 
allegiance  to  the  king  of  Babylon. 

Then  it  befell  precisely  as  Ezekiel  had  foreseen.  Stung 
to  the  quick  by  the  perfidy  and  ingratitude  of  the  Jews, 
who  had  so  persistently  and  obstinately  outraged  him, 
Nebuchadnezzar  gathered  a  vast  army,  resolved  to  make 
a  public  example  of  them  to  surrounding  peoples  by  the 
swiftness  and  mercilessness  of  his  vengeance.  "  A  sword, 
a  sword,  it  is  sharpened,  and  also  furbished :  it  is  sharpened 
that  it  may  make  u.  slaughter ;  it  is  furbished  that  it  may 
be  as  lightning.  .  .  .  Cry  and  howl,  son  of  man :  for  it  is 
upon  my  people,  it  is  upon  all  the  princes  of  Israel.  They 
are  delivered  over  to  the  sword  with  my  people:  smite 
therefore  upon  thy  thigh  "  (Ezek.  xxi.  8-i  7,  r.v.). 

The  king  of  Babylon  comes  to  the  junction  of  the  ways 
— this  to  Jerusalem,  that  to  Rabbah,  the  chief  city  of 
Ammon.  He  consults  the  usual  signs  of  divination,  which 
point  him  to  the  assault  of  Jerusalem  with  battel  ing-rams 
and  mounts  and  forts.  And  as  he  takes  the  road  to  the 
devoted  city,  the  voice  of  Jehovah  is  heard  bidding  the 
prince  of  Israel,  whose  day  is  come,  to  remove  the  miter 
and  take  off  the  crown,  because  Jehovah  was  resolved  to 
"  overturn,  overturn,  and  overturn."  And  then,  as  though 
to  justify  the  awful  sentence,  there  is  given  an  enumeration 
of  the  crimes  which  were  making  the  streets  of  Jerusalem 
red  with  blood  and  foul  with  impurity.  It  is  altogether 
a  terrible  description  of  the  state  of  things  in  the  city  dur- 
ing those  last  years  of  Zedekiah's  reign.  A  bitter  experi- 
ence for  Jeremiah,  whose  soul  must  have  been  sore  vexed 
from  day  to  day  in  seeing  and  hearing  their  lawless  deeds 
(Ezek.  xxi.  18-27  i  ^^^i*  i-i^)* 

At  last,  in  December,  591  B.C.,  the  siege  began.  On  the 
approach  of  Nebuchadnezzar  the  confederacy  had  melted 


HOff^  y4  REED  STOOD  AS  A  PILLAR 


i6i 


away,  and  Jerusalem  was  left  alone,  an  islet  amid  the  roar- 
ing waves  of  Chaldean  armies.  But  the  citizens  had  laid 
in  a  good  store  of  provisions,  and  were  expecting  daily  the 
advance  of  Pharaoh  Hophra,  with  the  cavalry  of  Egypt, 
to  raise  the  siege. 

At  this  juncture  Zedekiah  sent  two  well-known  men  to 
Jeremiah  to  ask  whether  Jehovah  would  not  interpose  for 
his  people,  as  he  had  done  in  the  great  days  of  the  past, 
as,  for  instance,  when  he  destroyed  the  host  of  Sennacherib 
in  a  single  night.  It  must  have  been  a  trying  ordeal  to  the 
prophet.  One  conciliatory  word  might  have  averted  the 
dislike  of  princes  and  people,  given  a  bright  glint  of  popu- 
larity and  hero-worship,  and  obliterated  the  charges  of 
mean-spiritedness  and  lack  of  patriotism  that  were  freely 
leveled  at  him.  Why  should  he  not  be  the  Isaiah  of  this 
new  siege  ?  Why  not  arouse  and  encourage  his  people  to 
indomitable  resistance  and  heroic  faith  ?  Why  not  blend 
Mva  voice  with  those  of  the  prophets  that  foretold  a  certain 
deliverance,  and  so  acquire  an  influence  over  them,  which 
might  be  used  ultimately  for  their  highest  good  7 

It  is  not  impossible  that  such  considerations  passed  be- 
fore his  mind.  But  if  so  they  were  immediately  dismissed. 
"  Then  said  Jeremiah  unto  them.  Thus  shall  ye  say  to  Zede- 
kiah :  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel ;  Behold,  I 
will  turn  back  the  weapons  of  war  that  are  in  your  hands, 
wherewith  ye  fight  against  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  against 
the  Chaldeans,  which  besiege  you  without  the  walls,  and  I 
will  gather  them  into  the  midst  of  this  city.  And  I  myself 
will  fight  against  you  with  an  outstretched  hand  and  with  a 
strong  arm,  even  in  anger,  and  in  fury,  and  in  great  wrath. 
And  I  will  smite  the  inhabitants  of  this  city,  both  man  and 
beast :  they  shall  die  of  a  great  pestilence.  And  afterward, 
saith  the  Lord,  I  will  deliver  Zedekiah  king  of  Judah, 
and  his  servants,  and  the  people,  even  such  as  are  left  in 


11 


i6a 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


this  city  from  the  pestilence,  from  the  svf ord,  and  from  the 
famine,  into  the  hard  of  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon : 
.  .  .  and  he  shall  smite  them  with  the  edge  of  the  sword ; 
he  shall  not  spare  them,  neither  have  pity,  nor  have  mercy." 

He  folloi/ed  up  these  terrible  words  by  saying  that  the 
only  way  of  safety  was  to  go  forth  to  the  Chaldeans,  who 
were  now  investing  the  city  on  every  side.  All  who  stopped 
in  the  city  would  die  of  sword,  pestilence,  or  famine.  They 
would  be  accounted  as  figs  not  fit  to  be  eaten  and  des- 
tined to  be  cast  away  as  refuse.  But  those  who  went  forth 
and  surrendered  themselves  to  the  king  of  Babylon  would 
save  their  lives  (xxi. ;  xxii.  1-9 ;  xxiv.). 

Yet  once  again,  when  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  was  in  prog- 
ress, and  every  day  the  air  was  full  of  the  cries  of  the  com- 
batants, the  heavy  thud  of  the  battering-rams  against  the 
walls,  and  the  cries  of  wounded  men  borne  from  the  ram- 
parts to  the  tendance  of  women,  Jeremiah  went  fearlessly 
to  Zedekiah  with  the  heavy  tidings  that  nothing  could  stay 
the  sack  and  burning  of  the  city,  since  God  had  given  it 
into  the  hands  of  the  king  of  Babylon ;  and  that  he  would 
surely  be  taken,  and  behold  him  face  to  face.  "  He  shall 
speak  with  thee  mouth  to  mouth,  and  thou  shalt  go  to 
Babylon"  (xxxiv.  1-7). 

At  i:he  same  time,  rolling  across  the  desert  waste  and 
reverberating  like  a  funeral  knell,  came  the  terrible  voice 
of  Ezekiel :  "  Woe  to  the  bloody  city !  Heap  on  the  wood ; 
make  the  fire  hot ;  then  set  it  empty  upon  the  coals  thereof, 
that  the  nost  of  it  may  be  consumed.  I  the  Lord  have 
spoken  it.  I  will  not  go  back,  neither  will  I  repent" 
(Ezek.  xxiv.  1-14). 


II.  His  Attitude  toward  the  Slave-owning  Jews, 
— It  is  not  impossible  that  Jeremiah's  vehement  words  of 
reproof  r-oused  the  deeply  drugged  conscience  of  his  peo- 


HOH^  A  REED  STOOD  AS  A  PILLAR 


163 


pie,  and  they  resolved,  at  the  suggestion  of  Zedekiah,  to 
make  some  reparation  for  their  sins,  and  at  the  same  time 
strengthen  their  garrison  by  setting  free  their  slaves.  This 
was  done  at  a  solemn  convocation  specially  summoned  in 
the  Temple,  and  the  national  resolve  was  ratified  before 
God  with  the  most  sacred  rites.  A  calf  was  cut  in  twain, 
and  the  princes  of  Judah,  the  princes  of  Jerusalem^  the 
eunuchs  and  the  priests,  and  all  the  principal  people,  passed 
between  the  parts  of  the  calf,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  May 
God  part  us  in  twain,  as  this  beast  is,  if  we  tiun  back  from 
our  vow  to  emancipate  our  brethren  and  sisters,  Hebrews 
and  Hebrewesses,  who  are  enslaved." 

Great  joy  spread  through  hundreds  of  hearts — a  body  of 
stalwart  defenders  was  raised  for  the  beleaguered  city.  Best 
of  all,  the  nation  had  done  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord. 
Two  months  or  so  passed,  when,  to  the  unbounded  joy  of 
the  citizens,  the  attacks  of  Nebuchadnezzar  became  less 
frequent;  the  lines  of  the  besieging  army  thinned;  and 
presently  the  tents  were  struck,  and  the  whole  host  moved 
off.  How  immense  the  relief  when  the  crash  of  catapult 
and  ram  ceased,  and  the  population  pent  up  so  long  within 
their  walls  could  go  freely  forth !  This  diversion  was  caused 
by  the  approach  of  Pharaoh's  army.  The  Jews  thought 
that  they  would  never  see  their  foes  again,  and  must  have 
derided  Jeremiah  mercilessly.  They  also  repealed  the  edict 
of  emancipation,  and  caused  the  servants  and  handmaidens 
whom  they  had  let  go  to  return  to  their  former  condition. 

In  that  tumult  of  national  rejoicing,  when  th<5  prophet's 
words  seemed  falsified,  and  when  the  fear  they  had  inspired 
turned  to  increased  hatred  against  the  man  who  had  spoken 
them ;  when  he  seemed  cast  off  and  disowned  by  Jehovah 
himself,  it  must  have  needed  uncommon  faith  and  cour- 
age to  raise  a  bold  and  uncompromising  protest.  But  he 
did  not  swerve  by  a  hair's-breadth  from  the  path  of  duty. 


1 64 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHBT 


The  infatuation  of  his  people,  their  treacheiy  to  their 
plighted  oath,  the  disappointment  and  sufferings  of  the  en- 
slaved, and  the  honor  of  Jehovah  so  ruthlessly  contemned 
— all  compelled  him  to  speak  out.  "Behold,  saith  the 
Lord,  I  proclaim  liberty  to  the  sword,  to  the  pestilence, 
and  to  the  famine.  And  I  will  give  the  men  that  have 
transgressed  i^y  covenant  into  the  hand  of  their  enemies : 
and  their  dead  bodies  shall  be  for  meat  unto  the  fowls  of  the 
heaven,  and  to  the  beasts  of  the  earth.  And  Zedekiah  king 
of  Judah  and  his  princes  \n\\  I  give  into  the  hand  of  the 
king  of  Babylon's  army,  which  are  gone  up  from  you. 
Behold,  I  will  command,  saith  the  Lord,  and  cause  them 
to  return  to  this  city ;  and  they  shall  fight  against  it,  and 
take  it,  and  burn  it  with  fire :  and  I  will  make  the  cities  of 
Judah  a  desolation  without  inhabitant "  (xxxiv.). 

It  needed  no  common  moral  courage  and  sense  of  the 
presence  of  God  to  dare  to  speak  such  words,  and  they 
must  have  brought  down  on  the  devotee!  head  of  the  lonely 
prophet  storms  of  abuse.  Hot/  easy  to  ridicule  him  when 
it  seemed  so  sure  tha'  the  fake  prophets  were  right  and 
he  wrong !  His  opponents  would  be  proportionately  in- 
dignant, as  the  voice  of  conscience,  not  yet  quite  silenced, 
protested  that  he  was  speaking  the  very  word  of  Jehovah. 


III.  His  Attitude  during  the  Interval  of  Respite. 
—The  city  was  delirious  with  joy.  The  Chaldeans  had 
withdrawn,  Pharaoh  would  prove  more  than  a  match  for 
them,  they  would  not  return.  The  thunder-cloud  had 
broken — there  was  nothing  to  fear.  But  Jeremiah  never 
changed  his  note.  It  seemed  like  a  raven's  croak  amid 
the  songs  of  spring  birds.  Very  depressing !  Very  unpopu- 
lar !  Very  likely  to  spread  suspicion  and  panic !  Only  too 
gladly  would  he  have  yielded  to  the  current  flowing  around 
him.    But  he  dared  not ;  and  when  the  king  sent  another 


HO^  A  REED  STOOD  AS  A  PILLAR 


'65 


d^utation  to  inquire  through  him  of  Jehovah  he  returned 
this  terrible  reply:  "Deceive  not  yourselves,  saying,  The 
Chaldeans  shall  surely  depart  from  us :  for  they  shall  not 
depart.  For  though  ye  had  smitten  the  whole  army  of  the 
Chaldeans  that  fight  against  you,  and  there  remained  but 
wounded  men  among  them,  yet  should  they  rise  up  every 
man  in  his  tent,  and  bum  this  city  with  fire  "  (xxxvii.  z-io). 

God's  prophets  had  too  clear  a  vision  of  the  issue  of  the 
duel  between  Chaldea  and  Egypt  to  be  able  to  buoy  up 
their  people  with  hopes  of  deliverance.  Jeremiah  had  al- 
ready foreseen  that  the  daughter  of  Egypt  should  be  put 
to  shame  and  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  people  of  the 
north ;  he  had  even  asked  that  the  tidings  of  invasion  might 
be  published  in  her  principal  cities  (xlvi.  13-28).  Ezekiel 
was  not  less  decisive :  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  I  will 
strengthen  the  arms  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  put  my 
sword  in  his  hand :  but  I  will  break  the  arms  of  Pharaoh, 
and  he  shall  groan  before  him  with  the  groanings  of  a 
deadly  wounded  man  "  (Ezek.  xxx.). 

Shortly  after  this  the  prophet  resolved  to  take  the  oppor- 
tunity offered  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  Chaldeans  to  visit 
his  inheritance  at  Anathoth,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  his 
portion  there,  perhaps  of  rent  or  of  some  division  of  tithes 
among  the  priestly  families,  of  which  he  was  a  member. 
As  he  was  passing  out  through  the  gate  of  Benjamin,  he 
was  recognized  by  a  captain,  whose  family  had  long  been 
in  antagonism  with  him ;  and  he  was  not  slow  to  turn  the 
occasion  to  advantage  by  repaying  a  long-standing  grudge 
(xxxvii.  13).  He  therefore  laid  hold  on  the  prophet,  say- 
ing, "Thou  fallest  away  to  the  Chaldeans."  It  was  an 
absurd  charge ;  for  the  Chaldeans  had  raised  t\i^.  siege,  and 
it  was  supposed  they  would  not  return.  The  pretext,  how- 
ever, was  sufficient  to  serve  Irijah's  purpose,  and  though 
it  was  indignantly  repudiated  by  Jeremiah,  he  was  dragged 


s66 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHBT 


with  violence  into  the  presence  of  the  princes,  who  were 
as  glad  to  have  their  intractable  foe  at  their  mercy  as  the 
priests  to  whom  Judas  offered  to  betray  his  Master. 

When  he  had  been  in  a  similar  plight  in  the  previous 
reign,  Ahikam,  the  son  of  Shaphan,  had  rescued  him,  like 
another  John  of  Gaunt ;  but  he  was  now  dead  or  in  exile. 
Zedekiah  was  too  weak  to  interpose  to  rescue  the  prophet 
from  the  fury  of  his  lords,  even  if  he  were  acquainted  with 
his  peril.  And  so  they  adjudged  him  to  the  bastinado ; 
forty  stripes  save  one  fell  from  the  scourge  on  his  bare 
back ;  and  he  was  then  thrust  into  a  dark,  imderground, 
unhealthy  dungeon,  where  he  remained  many  days  at  the 
peril  of  his  hfe. 

After  a  while  Zedekiah,  perhaps  pricked  by  remorse,  or 
alarmed  at  the  tidings  which  came  from  the  frontier,  sent 
for  him,  much  as  Herod  was  wont  to  summon  John  the 
Baptist  from  his  dungeon  to  converse  with  him  in  his  pal- 
ace halls  above.  "  Is  there  any  word  from  the  Lord  ?  "  the 
king  asked,  anxiously. 

What  an  opportunity  was  here  for  Jeremiah  to  trim  his 
speech,  to  put  velvet  on  his  lips,  and  to  mitigate  the  un- 
welcome truth !  Thus  he  might  curry  the  king's  favor, 
and  secure  for  himself  deliverance  from  his  intolerable  suf- 
ferings. But  again  there  was  no  compromise.  "And  Jere- 
miah said,  There  is.  He  said  also.  Thou  shalt  be  delivered 
into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Babylon." 

He  then  pleaded  with  the  royal  clemency  for  a  mitiga- 
tion of  the  severity  of  his  sentence,  with  such  good  success 
that  he  was  committed,  at  the  king's  command,  to  the 
court  of  the  guard,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  palace, 
and  fed  daily  with  a  loaf  of  bread  out  of  the  bakers'  street, 
until  all  the  bread  in  the  city  was  spent.  In  the  meanwhile 
the  army  of  the  Chaldeans,  having  defeated  Pharaoh,  re- 
turned, and  again  formed  their  thick-set  lines  around  the 


HOPy  A  REED  STOOD  AS  A  PILLAR 


167 


city,  like  a  fence  of  iron,  to  be  drawn  closer  and  closer 
until  Jerusalem  fell,  like  a  snared  bird,  into  their  grasp. 

It  is  impossible  to  recite  or  read  this  story  without  ad- 
miration for  the  man  who  dared  to  stand  alone  with  God 
against  a  natioi:  in  arms.  It  makes  us  think  of  Ziegenbalg, 
the  first  missionary  to  the  East  Indies,  standing  alone  there 
against  the  whole  force  of  the  authorities,  determined  to 
crush  his  mission  in  the  bud ;  of  Judson,  pursuing  his  work 
for  the  salvation  of  Burmah  amid  the  treachery  and  hos- 
tility of  the  king ;  of  Moffat,  going  alone  and  unarmed  into 
the  territory  of  the  terrible  Africander ;  of  John  Hunt  amid 
the  ferocious  cannibals  of  Fiji ;  of  John  G.  Paton,  who  was 
preserved  amid  fifty  attempts  to  take  his  Ufe.  Surely  the 
a  ngel  of  the  Lord  encampeth  round  about  them  that  fear 
him,  and  delivereth  them.  Our  duty  is  to  see  to  it  thp*  -/<! 
are  on  God's  plan  and  doing  his  work ;  to  wrap  arouna  our 
souls  the  sense  of  his  presence ;  to  keep  our  ears  open  to 
the  perpetual  assurance,  "  I  am  with  thee  to  deliver  thee." 
Then  we  shall  find  that  by  our  God  we  can  leap  barrier- 
walls,  pass  unscathed  through  troops  of  foes,  and  stand  as 
pillars  in  his  temple  that  shall  never  be  removed. 


XVIII. 

Into  tl)e  (3vonriht  to  IDit. 

(Jeremiah  xxxiL) 

"  All  we  have  willed  or  hoped  or  dreamed  of  good  shall  exist ; 
Not  its  semblance,  but  itself ;  no  beauty,  nor  good,  nor  power, 
Whose  voice  has  gone  forth,  but  each  survives  for  the  melodist 

When  eternity  affirms  the  conception  "if  an  hour ; 
The  light  that  proved  too  high,  the  her  ic  for  earth  too  hard, 

The  passion  that  left  the  ground  to  lose  itself  in  the  sky. 
The  music  sent  up  to  God  by  the  lover  and  the  bard ; 

Enough  that  he  heard  it  once ;  we  shall  hear  it  by  and  by." 

Browning. 

WHILE  shut  up  in  the  court  of  the  guard,  perhaps 
fastened  by  a  chain  that  restrained  his  liberty,  Jere- 
miah received  a  divine  intimation  that  his  uncle  would 
shortly  come  to  him  with  a  request  for  him  to  purchase 
the  family  property  at  Anathoth.  This  greatly  startled  him, 
because  he  had  so  clear  a  conviction,  which  he  cherished 
as  divinely  given,  of  the  approaching  overthrow  of  the 
kingdom,  and  the  consequent  desolation  of  the  land.  It 
had  been  his  one  incessant  message  to  his  people  for  nearly 
forty  years  that  the  land  must  keep  her  sabbaths  as  a  judg- 
ment for  the  sins  of  the  people ;  and  now  it  seemed  con- 
flicting and  inconsistent  to  be  told  to  purchase  the  field  at 
Anathoth,  as  though  it  were  needed  for  cultivation.  The 
divine  command  quite  staggered  him,  and  may  have  made 
him  for  a  moment  question  whether  there  had  not  been 

i68 


WTO  THE  GROUND,  TO  DIB 


169 


some  mistake  in  the  message  he  ha    so  constantly  reiter- 
ated  in  the  ears  of  his  people. 

He  gave,  however,  no  outward  si^  .  of  his  perplexities; 
but  when  his  uncle's  son  entered  the  courtyard  with  his 
request,  the  prophet  at  once  assented  to  the  proposal,  ^nd 
purchased  the  property  for  seventeen  shekels  (about  ten 
dollars).  A  similar  incident  is  recorded  in  Roman  history. 
When  Rome  was  being  besieged  by  Hannibal,  the  very 
ground  on  which  he  was  encamped  was  put  up  for  auction, 
and  purchase  — .  proof  of  the  calm  confidence  that  the 
Romans  pos.  ■'ssei     f  the  ultimate  issue  of  the  conflict. 

In  addit'*'  1  i  '  tiiis,  Jeremiah  took  care  to  have  the  pur- 
chase recoraev^  md  witnessed  with  the  same  elaborate  pains 
as  if  he  w-  '•e  at  once  to  be  entering  on  occupation.  Not 
a  single  fo.  a  was  omitted  or  slurred  over ;  and  ultimately 
the  two  deeds  of  contract — the  one  sealed  with  the  more 
private  details  of  price,  the  other  open  and  bearing  the  signa- 
tures of  witnesses — were  deposited  in  the  charge  of  Baruch, 
with  the  injunction  to  put  them  in  an  earthen  vessel  and 
preserve  them.  They  were  probably  not  opened  again 
until  the  return  from  the  captivity ;  but  we  can  well  im- 
agine how  strong  a  rush  of  emotion  and  confidence  mv«t 
have  been  inspired  as  the  men  of  that  day  penised  the 
documents. 

But  Jeremiah  was  not  a  sharer  in  that  glad  scene.  He 
did  as  God  bade  him,  though  the  shadow  of  a  great  dark- 
ness lay  upon  his  soul,  from  which  he  could  only  find 
relief,  as  the  Lord  on  the  cross,  in  recourse  to  the  Father. 
Indeed,  at  this  point  of  his  life  he  resembles  the  hidden 
vessel,  which  contained  within  it  the  charter  of  the  nation's 
deliverance.  He  was  an  earthen  vessel  indeed,  but  he  con- 
t:.ined  heavenly  treasure.  He  fell  into  the  ground  to  die, 
as  the  seed  does,  which  holds  at  its  heart  a  principle  of  life 
that  can  only  express  itself  through  death,  and  can  only 


170 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


bless  men  when  its  sowing,  amid  the  depression  and  decay 
of  autumn,  has  been  complete. 

I.  Hours  or  Midnight  Darkness. — It  is  only  in  service 
that  anything  reaches  its  fullest  life.  A  bit  of  iron  is  con- 
demned to  solitude  and  uselessness  till  it  becomes  part  of  a 
great  machine.  A  seed  of  com,  hidden  for  three  thousand 
years  in  a  mummy-case,  abides  alone,  and  only  learns  the 
motive  and  glory  of  existence  when,  through  death,  it  learns 
to  weave  the  chemical  juices  of  the  earth,  and  dews,  sun- 
beams, and  air,  into  the  fabric  of  the  golden  com.  A  man 
who  lives  a  self-contained  life,  of  which  the  gratification  of 
his  own  ambition  and  selfhood  is  the  supreme  aim,  never 
drinks  the  sweets  of  existence  or  attains  his  full  develop- 
ment. It  is  only  when  we  live  for  God,  and,  in  doing  so, 
for  man,  that  we  are  able  to  appropriate  the  rarest  blessed- 
ness of  which  our  nature  is  capable,  or  to  unfold  into  all 
the  proportions  of  full  growth  in  Christ.  In  the  deepest 
sense,  therefore,  Jeremiah  could  never  regret  that  he  had 
given  the  strength  and  measure  of  his  days  to  the  service 
of  others.  If  he  had  not  done  so,  but  had  shmnk  back 
from  the  high  calling  of  his  early  life,  his  misery  would 
have  been  in  proportion  to  the  royal  quality  of  his  nature, 
and  his  power  to  enrich  the  life  of  man. 

But  none  can  give  themselves  to  the  service  of  others 
except  at  bitter  cost  of  much  that  this  world  holds  dear. 
In  the  words  of  Christ,  the  com  of  wheat  must  fall  into 
the  ground  and  die  if  it  is  to  bear  much  fruit.  In  the  case 
of  the  wheat-com,  death  is  necessary  to  break  up  the  case 
in  which  the  principle  of  life  lies  imprisoned.  It  has  fed 
on  the  choice  farina,  the  fine  flour,  stored  in  its  sac  or  shell, 
and  having  consumed  it  all,  it  must  be  let  forth ;  and  there 
is  ho  way  of  emancipation  except  through  the  death  that 
tears  down  the  prison- walls  of  its  cell,  and  allows  it  to  strike 


WTO  THE  GROUND,  TO  DIB 


«7« 


its  radicle  downward,  and  its  blade  upward  to  the  air.  And 
in  the  case  of  every  true  life  there  must  be  death  to  the 
attractions  and  indulgences  of  the  self -life,  that  the  soul, 
being  at  leisure  from  itself,  may  go  forth  to  seek  its  sup- 
plies from  God,  and  to  weave  them  into  nourishing  food 
for  the  lives  of  those  around.  This  will  explain  the  priva- 
tions and  sorrows  to  which  Jeremiah  was  subjected.  Death 
wrought  in  him  that  life  might  work  in  Israel,  and  in  all 
who  should  read  the  book  of  his  prophecy. 

Ife  died  to  the  dear  ties  of  human  love.  "Thou  shalt  not 
take  thee  a  wife,  neither  shalt  thou  have  sons  nor  daughters 
in  this  place,"  was  early  said  to  him.  The  men  of  Anathoth, 
of  the  house  of  his  father,  conspired  against  him.  The 
friends  with  whom  he  took  sweet  counsel,  and  in  whose 
company  he  walked  to  the  house  of  God,  betrayed  him. 
What  he  held  in  his  heart  belonged  to  the  race,  and  might 
not  be  poured  forth  within  the  narrower  circle  of  the  home, 
of  priestly  Temple  duty,  or  of  the  little  village  of  Anathoth. 

He  died  to  the  good-will  of  his  fellows.  None  can  be  in- 
different to  this.  It  is  easy  to  do  or  suffer  when  the  bark 
of  life  is  wafted  on  its  way  by  favoring  breezes,  or  the  air 
thrills  with  expressions  of  love  and  adulation.  Then  a  man 
is  nerved  to  dare  to  do  his  best.  And  a  nature  as  sensitive 
as  Jeremiah's  is  peculiarly  susceptible  to  such  impressions. 
But  it  was  his  bitter  lot  to  encounter  from  the  first  an  in- 
cessant stream  of  vituperation  and  dislike.  We  have  no 
record  of  one  voice  being  raised  to  thank  or  encourage  him. 
"  Woe  is  me,  my  mother,"  he  cried,  sadly,  "  that  thou  hast 
borne  me  a  man  of  strife  and  a  man  of  contention  to  the 
whole  earth!  I  have  neither  lent  on  usury,  nor  men  have 
lent  to  me  on  usury ;  yet  every  one  of  them  doth  curse 


me. 


» 


He  died  to  the  pride  of  national  pc*riotism.     No  patriot 
allows  himself  to  despair  of  his  country.     However  dark 


I'll 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  PROPHET 


the  lowering  storm-clouds  and  strong  the  advene  current, 
he  believes  that  the  ship  of  state  will  weather  the  storm. 
He  chokes  back  words  of  despondency  and  depression  lest 
they  should  breed  dismay.  He  does  not  allow  his  heart  to 
harbor  the  thoughts  of  despair  that  flit  across  it  and  knock 
for  entrance;  he  drives  them  away,  and  treats  them  as 
traitors  guilty  of  high  treason.  But  Jeremiah  was  driven 
along  an  opposite  course.  A  truer  heart  than  his  never 
beat  in  human  breast.  A  loftier  patriotism  than  his  never 
hazarded  itself  in  the  last  breach.  His  belief  in  Israel  was 
part  of  his  belief  in  God.  But  he  found  himself  compelled 
to  speak  in  such  a  fashion  that  the  princes  proposed,  not 
without  show  of  reason,  to  put  him  to  death,  because  he 
weakened  the  hands  of  the  men  of  war. 

He  died  U>  the  sweets  of  personal  liberty.  A  large  portion 
of  his  ministry  was  exerted  from  the  precincts  of  a  prison. 
Repeatedly  we  read  of  his  being  shut  up  and  not  able  to 
go  forth.  His  friend  Baruch  had  constantly  to  act  as  his 
intermediary  and  interpreter.  This,  too,  must  have  been 
bitter  to  him.  His  writings  abound  with  references  to 
nature  and  to  natural  processes;  and  the  iron  fetters  of 
restraint  must  have  eaten  deeply  into  the  tender  flesh  of 
his  gentle  heart. 

He  died,  also,  to  the  meaning  he  had  been  wont  to  place  on 
his  own  prophecies.  Up  to  the  moment  when  Jehovah  bade 
him  purchase  the  property  of  Hanameel,  he  had  never 
questioned  the  impending  fate  of  Jerusalem.  It  was  er- 
tainly  and  inevitably  to  be  destroyed  by  sword,  famine, 
pestilence,  and  fire.  All  that  he  had  ever  said  in  private 
or  public  was  but  the  fresh  assertion  of  this  bitter  fate,  with 
some  nev;  touch  of  pathos  or  turn  of  emphasis.  But  now 
the  word  of  God,  demanding  an  act  of  obedience,  seemed 
to  indicate  that  the  land  was  to  remain  under  the  cultiva- 
tion  of  the  families  that  owned  it. 


INTO  THE  GROUND,  TO  DIB 


»73 


II.  Jeremiah's  Behavior. — ^To  very  few  men  has  it 
been  given  so  closely  to  walk  along  the  path  which  the 
Redeemer  trod  during  his  earthly  life.  He  was  stripped 
of  almo&t  everything  that  men  prize  most.  But  amid  it  all 
he  derived  solace  and  suppoi  t  in  thre"  main  directions : 

{i)  Iff  prayed.  Take  this  extract  from  his  own  diary: 
"  Now  after  I  had  delivered  the  deed  of  the  purchase  unto 
Baruch  the  son  of  Neriah,  I  prayed  unto  the  Lord,  say- 
ing, Ah,  Lord  God  ! "  Yea,  and  he  was  encouraged  in  this 
holy  exercise,  for  shortly  after  this  incident,  when  tidings 
came  to  him  that  the  houses  of  the  kings  of  Judah  were 
being  broken  down  to  provide  materials  for  the  building 
of  an  inner  line  of  defence  behind  the  shell  of  wall  which 
was  nearly  demolished  by  the  terrible  battering-rams,  and 
when  his  heart  was  more  than  ever  dismayed,  the  word  of 
the  Lord  came  to  him,  saying,  "  Call  unto  me,  and  I  will 
answer  thee,  and  will  show  thee  great  and  secret  [or  inac- 
cessible] things,  which  thou  knowest  not "  (xxxiii.  1-5). 

There  is  no  help  to  the  troubled  soul  like  that  which 
comes  through  prayer.  You  may  have  no  clear  vision  of 
God.  You  may  be  only  able  to  grope  your  way  in  the 
direction  where  he  sits  enshrouded  from  your  view  in  the 
thick  darkness.  You  may  be  able  to  do  little  more  than  re- 
cite things  which  God  and  you  know  perfectly  well,  ending 
your  prayer  as  Jeremiah  did,  with  the  words,  "  and,  behold, 
thou  seest  it "  (24).  Nevertheless  pray ;  pray  on  your  knees ; 
"  in  everything  by  prayer  and  supplication  ...  let  your 
requests  be  made  known  unto  God ; "  and  the  peace  of  God 
will  settle  down  on  and  enwrap  your  weary,  troubled  soul. 

(2)  He  rested  on  the  Word  of  God.  The  soul  of  the  proph- 
et was  nourished  and  fed  by  the  divine  Word.  "  Thy  words 
were  found,"  he  cner.,  "  and  I  dj  i  at  them :  and  thy  words 
were  unto  me  the  joy  and  the  rejoicing  of  my  heart."  It 
sounds  but  hard  and  cold  advice  to  bid  a  man  in  sorrow 


»74 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


to  read  his  Bible ;  but  it  were  impossible  to  give  better. 
Because  behind  the  words  is  the  Word ;  in  this  garden  the 
Son  of  Man  walks ;  in  this  tabernacle  the  Sun  shines  in 
whose  beams  are  health  and  comfort.  How  often  have 
God's  people  turned  to  the  Bible,  as  the  Saviour  did  in 
the  darkest  hours  that  swept  over  his  soul,  and  found  in  a 
psalm  or  a  chapter  the  balm  of  Gilead,  the  tree  of  life  with 
healing  leaves ! 

(3)  He  faithfully  kept  to  the  path  of  duty.  "And  I  bought 
the  field."  It  does  not  always  happen  that  our  service  to 
men  will  be  met  by  rebuff,  ill-will,  and  hard  treatment; 
but  when  it  does  there  should  be  no  swerving  or  flinching 
or  drawing  back.  God's  sun  shines  on  the  evil  as  well  as 
the  good,  and  his  rain  descends  on  the  fields  of  the  thank- 
less churl  equally  as  on  those  of  his  children.  The  fierce 
snow-laden  blast,  driving  straight  in  your  teeth,  is  not  so 
pleasant  as  the  breath  of  summer,  laden  with  the  scent  of 
the  heather ;  but  if  you  can  see  the  track  you  must  follow 
it  To  be  anywhere  off  it,  either  right  or  left,  would  be 
dangerous  in  the  extreme.  And  often  when  the  lonely 
soul  has  reaped  nothing  but  obloquy  and  opposition,  has 
been  borne  to  a  cros?  and  crucified  as  a  malefactor,  it  has 
comforted  itself  with  the  prospect  of  the  harvests  of  blessing 
which  were  to  accrue  to  those  who  had  rejected  its  appeals, 
just  as  Pentecost  came  lO  those  who  had  been  the  murder- 
ers of  Christ. 

Such  are  the  resorts  of  the  soul  in  its  seasons  of  anguish. 
It  casts  itsel^  on  the  ground,  crying, "  Father,  Abba,  Father ; " 
it  stays  itself  on  the  word  of  promise  that  comes  to  it  in 
angel  garb ;  it  goes  forth  to  yield  itself  to  death,  assured 
that  life  awaits  it  and  the  objects  of  its  choice. 


III.  Compensations. — ^To  all  valleys  there  are  mount- 
ains, to  all  depths  heights ;  for  all  midnight  hours  there  are 


INTO  THE  GROUND,  TO  DIE 


'75 


.» 


hours  of  sunrise ;  for  Gethsemane  an  Olivet.  We  can  never 
give  up  aught  for  God  or  man  without  discovering  that  at 
the  moment  of  surrender  he  begins  to  repay,  as  he  foretold 
to  the  prophet :  "  For  brass  I  will  bring  gold,  and  for  iron  I 
will  bring  silver,  and  for  wood  brass,  and  for  stones  iron." 
We  do  not  make  the  surrender  with  any  thought  of  profit- 
ing by  it ;  but  when  we  make  it  with  a  single  purpose  and 
aim,  we  learn  that  when  Christ  lays  a  requisition  on  boat 
or  sailor's  time,  he  returns  the  boat  laden  with  fish  to  the 
water's  edge. 

Nor  does  God  keep  these  compensations  for  that  new 
world,  "  where  light  and  darkness  fuse."  It  were  long  to 
wait  if  that  were  so.  But  here  and  now  we  learn  that  there 
are  compensations.  It  may  seem  a  hardship  to  the  man 
to  leave  his  cell,  where  he  has  been  immured  so  long  that 
he  dreads  the  light,  the  stare  of  strange  eyes,  the  call  for 
exertion ;  but  when  the  first  stiffness  of  the  joints  and  the 
novelty  of  his  surroundings  have  passed  off,  will  he  not  be 
compensated  ?  The  first  movement  from  the  selfish  life  may 
strain  and  try  us,  the  indifference  of  our  fellows  be  hard  to 
bear ;  but  God  has  such  things  to  reveal  and  give  as  pass 
the  wildest  imaginings  of  the  self-centered  soul. 

So  Jeremiah  found  it.  His  compensations  came.  God 
became  his  Comforter,  and  wiped  away  his  tears,  and 
opened  to  him  the  vista  of  the  future,  down  whose  long 
aisles  he  beheld  his  people  planted  again  in  their  own  land. 
He  saw  men  buying  fields  for  money,  and  subscribing  deeds 
and  sealing  them,  as  he  had  done ;  he  heard  the  voice  of 
joy  and  the  voice  of  gladness,  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom 
and  the  voice  of  the  bride,  the  voice  of  them  that  bring  the 
sacrifices  of  joy  into  the  Lord's  house ;  he  was  assured  of 
the  advent  of  the  Man,  the  Branch  from  the  root  of  David, 
who  should  sit  upon  his  throne  (xxxii.,  xxxiii.).  There  was 
compensation  also  in  the  confidence  with  which  Nebuchad- 


176 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


nezzar  treated  him,  and  in  the  evident  reliance  which  his 
decimated  people  placed  on  his  intercessions,  as  we  shall 
see.  And  if  he  could  only  know  of  the  myriads  who  had 
been  comforted  by  '.ic  story  of  his  griefs,  and  by  the  assur- 
ances of  his  prophecies — ruddy  juice  pressed  into  the  golden 
chalice  of  Scripture  by  the  sorrows  that  crushed  his  heart 
-—surely  he  would  feel  that  his  affliction  was  light  and  not 
worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory  which  it  was  working  out. 

So  will  it  be  with  all  who  fall  into  the  ground  to  die. 
God  will  not  forget  or  forsake  them.  The  grave  may  be 
dark  and  deep,  the  winter  long,  the  frost  keen  and  pene- 
trating ;  but  spring  will  come,  and  the  stone  be  rolled  away, 
and  the  golden  stalk  shall  wave  in  the  sunshine,  bearing  its 
crown  of  fruit,  and  men  shall  thrive  on  the  bread  of  our 
experience,  the  product  of  our  tears  and  sufferings  and 
prayers. 


XIX. 
Sl)e  fail  of  SnuMitm. 

(Jeremiah  xxxviii.,  xxxix.) 

"  Among  the  faithless  faithful  only  he ; 
Amoag  innumerable  false,  unmoved. 
Unshaken,  unseduced,  unterrified, 
His  loyalty  he  kept,  his  love,  his  zeal ; 
Nor  number,  nor  example  with  him  wrought 
To  swerve  from  truth,  or  change  his  constant  mind 
Though  single.     From  amidst  them  forth  he  pass'd. 
Long  way  through  hostile  scorn,  which  he  sustain'd 
Superior,  nor  of  violence  fear'd  aught ; 
And  with  retorted  scorn  his  back  he  turn'd 
/        On  those  proud  tow'rs  to  swift  destruction  doom'd." 

Milton. 

DURING  those  long,  dark  months  of  siege  probably  the 
only  soul  in  all  that  crowded  city  which  was  in  per- 
fect peace,  and  free  in  its  unrestrained  liberty,  was  Jere- 
miah's. Tethered  as  he  was  by  an  iron  chain  to  the  wall 
of  the  court  of  the  guard,  he  passed  beyond  the  narrow 
confines  of  the  inclosure  to  the  great  age  that  was  to  be, 
when  Judah  should  be  saved  and  Jerusalem  should  dwell 
safely,  known  by  the  name  The  Lord  our  Righteous- 
ness. And  amid  the  cries  of  assailants  and  defenders,  un- 
broken by  the  thud  of  the  battering-rams,  deep  as  the  blue 
Syrian  sky  that  looked  down  upon  him,  was  the  peace  of 
God,  that  passed  the  understanding  of  those  that  thronged 

177 


178 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


m  and  out,  to  and  fro,  between  the  city  and  the  royal 
palace. 


I.  The  Horrors  of  the  Siege. — It  lasted  in  all  for 
about  eighteen  months,  v/ith  the  one  brief  respite  caused 
by  the  approach  of  Pharaoh's  army,  and  it  is  impossible 
for  us  to  estimate  the  amount  of  human  anguish  which 
was  crowded  into  that  fateful  space.  Some  conception  of 
it  may  be  gathered  from  the  words  with  which  Ezekiel  an- 
ticipated it.  As  in  a  mirror  coming  events  were  forecast. 
The  caldron  full  of  the  choicest  liesh  hanging  over  the 
swift  fire  until  it  was  consumed ;  the  vision  of  the  iron  pan 
encircling  the  sun-burnt  brick,  as  the  iron  legions  of  Chaldea 
would  engirdle  the  beleaguered  city ;  the  meager  measure  of 
wheat  and  barley  and  beans  and  lentils  and  millet  and 
spelt,  dealt  out  by  measure  day  by  day,  but  barely  sufficient 
for  the  prophet's  sustenance ;  the  barley-cakes  mingled  with 
cow's  dung,  abhorrent  to  the  taste,  yet  greedily  devoured ; 
the  stealthy  preparation  of  his  household  stuff  for  removal ; 
and  the  stealing  out  at  night  from  his  house  by  a  hole  in 
the  wall,  with  covered  face  and  laden  shoulder — all  these 
spoke  with  a  vividness  which  no  words  could  equal  of  the 
horrors  of  that  siege  (Ezek.  iv.). 

Imagine  for  a  moment  the  overcrowded  city,  into  which 
had  gathered  from  all  the  country  round  the  peasantry  and 
villagers,  who,  with  such  of  their  valuables  as  they  had 
been  able  hastily  to  collect  and  transport,  had  sought  ref- 
uge within  the  gray  old  walls  of  Zion  from  the  violence 
and  outrage  of  the  merciless  troops.  If  wandering  tribes 
like  the  sons  of  Rechab  were  induced  for  once  to  break  the 
tradition  of  their  nomad  life  to  shelter  themselves  within 
the  city  inclosure,  how  much  more  would  the  terrified 
populations  scattered  in  slight  habitations  over  the  hill 
country  count  it  politic  to  do  the  same  ?    This  mass  of 


a 


THE  FALL  OF  JERUSALEM 


179 


lie  royal 


1  all  for 
e  caused 
ipossible 
h  which 
iption  of 
ekiel  an- 
forecast. 
jver  the 
iron  pan 
Chaldea 
jasure  of 
lUet  and 
jufficient 
;led  with 
voured ; 
emoval ; 
hole  in 
ill  these 
1  of  the 

o  which 
itry  and 
ley  had 
ight  ref- 
violence 
ig  tribes 
reak  the 
within 
terrified 
the  hill 
mass  of 


fugitives  would  greatly  add  to  the  difficulties  of  the  defence 
by  their  demands  upon  the  provisions  which  were  laid  up 
in  anticipation  of  the  siege,  by  overcrowding  the  thorough- 
fares and  impeding  the  movements  of  the  soldiery. 

The  incident  referred  to  in  our  last  chapter,  of  the  demo- 
lition of  a  portion  of  the  royal  palace  to  provide  materials 
for  an  inner  hne  of  defence,  is  a  specimen  of  many  ano+her 
episode  in  that  intense  effort  of  Zedekiah  and  his  pjople 
to  hurl  back  the  tide  of  merciless  hate  and  thirst  for  blood 
that  broke  day  after  day  around  the  battlements ;  much  as 
the  long  ocean  wave  sends  its  surges  up  against  a  reef  of 
rock,  and  casts  its  splintered  forces  high  in  air.  Here  there 
was  a  scaling  party  which  must  be  flung  back  on  their  lad- 
ders ;  there  an  attempt  to  run  a  mine  which  must  be  inter- 
cepted ;  and  now  tidings  came  that  a  portion  of  the  wall, 
which  had  been  long  exposed  to  the  battering-rams,  showed 
signs  of  weakness  and  must  be  built  up  from  within ;  and 
yet  again  prec  lutions  must  be  taken  against  fire  flung  in 
missiles,  or  flights  of  arrows,  or  stones  cast  by  catapults. 
For  no  single  hour  could  the  defenders  relax  their  vigi- 
lance. A  counr'l  of  princes  must  have  been  in  perpetual 
session,  fertile  resource,  swift  to  meet  the  craft  or  the 
courage  of  tht  jc.  And  all  the  time  the  stock  of  provis- 
ions was  beci  iumg  less,  and  the  store  of  water  drying,  as 
in  the  case  of    lalchiah's  dungeon,  into  wet  mud. 

So  much  ^  the  earher  months  of  the  siege ;  but  as  the 
days  passec  on  darker  shadows  gathered.  It  was  as  though 
the  very  pit  of  hell  added  in  human  passion  the  last  dread 
horrors  of  the  scene.  The  precious  sons  of  Zion,  compa- 
rable to  fine  gold,  lay  by  scores  in  the  recesses  of  the  houses, 
broken  like  earthen  pitchers,  the  work  of  the  hand  of  the 
potter.  The  vomen  became  cruel,  and  refused  to  spare 
from  their  breast  for  their  young  the  nutriment  they  needed 
for  themselves.    The  tongues  of  the  sucking  babes  be- 


m 


i8o 


TEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


came  so  dry  and  parched  that  they  could  no  longer  cry. 
Young  children,  whose  weakness  constituted  a  first  claim, 
asked  for  bread,  and  asked  in  vain.  Highly  nurtured 
maidens  searched  over  the  dung-heaps  in  hope  of  finding 
something  to  stay  the  craving  of  hunger.  The  nobles  lost 
their  portly  mien,  and  talked  the  streets  like  animated 
mummies.  The  sword  of  the  invader  without  had  fewer 
victims  than  that  which  hunger  wielded  within,  and,  as  the 
climax  of  all,  pitiful  women  murdered  their  own  little  babes 
and  soddened  them  to  make  a  meal.  Finally,  pestilence 
began  its  ravages,  and  the  foul  stench  of  bodies  that  men 
had  no  time  to  bury,  and  that  fell  thick  and  fast  each  day 
in  the  streets  of  the  city,  like  auttunn  leaves,  caused  death, 
which  mow  d  down  those  that  had  escaped  the  foe  and 
privation.  Ah,  Jerusalem  !  who  stonedst  the  prophets,  and 
sheddest  the  blood  of  the  just,  this  was  the  day  of  the  over- 
flowing wrath  and  fury  of  Jehovah !  No  human  hand  Ut 
the  flame,  no  mere  human  hate  was  accountable  for  suffer- 
ings so  complex  and  so  terrible.  "Thou,  O  God,  hast  slain 
priest  and  prophet  in  thy  sanctuary ;  youth  and  age  in  the 
streets.  Thou  hast  slain  them  in  the  day  of  thine  anger ; 
thou  hast  slaughtered,  and  not  pitied." 

And  as  Jeremiah  waited  day  after  day,  unable  to  do 
other  than  listen  to  tidings  of  woe  that  converged  to  him 
from  every  side,  he  resembled  the  physician  who,  unable 
to  stay  the  slow  progress  of  some  terrible  form  of  paralysis 
in  one  he  loves  better  than  life,  is  compelled  to  listen  to 
the  tidings  of  its  conquests,  knowing  surely  that  these  are 
only  stages  in  an  assault  which  ultimately  must  capture  the 
citadel  of  life^ — an  assault  which  he  can  do  nothing  to  stay. 

II.  The  Prophet's  Added  Sorrows. — In  addition  to 
the  discomfort  which  he  shared  in  common  with  the  rest 
of  the  crowded  populace,  Jeremiah  was  exposed  to  aggrs- 


ii  :i 


THE  FALL  OF  JERUSALEM 


x8i 


, 


vated  sorrows.  It  would  appear  that  he  was  constantly 
reiterating  in  the  ears  of  all  who  passed  through  the  court- 
house the  message  which  he  had  previously  deUvered  to  the 
king,  that  to  stay  in  the  city  was  to  incur  death  by  sword, 
famine,  or  pestilence,  while  to  go  forth  to  the  lines  of  the 
Chaldeans  was  the  one  condition  of  life.  He  lost  no  op- 
portunity of  asserting  that  Jerusalem  should  surely  be  given 
into  the  hands  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  that  he  would 
take  it.  As  these  words  passed  from  lip  to  lip,  they  carried 
dismay  throughout  the  city.  Men  repeated  them  as  they 
did  duty  on  the  walls,  or  met  around  the  bivouac  fires,  or 
discussed  the  probable  issues  of  the  siege;  and  the  fact 
that  Jeremiah  had  so  often  spoken  as  the  mouthpiece  of 
Jehov  .it  Tave  an  added  weight  to  his  words. 

It  t'Jis  quite  natural,  therefore,  that  the  princes,  who 
knew  well  enough  the  importance  of  keeping  up  the  cour- 
age of  the  people,  should  demand  the  death  of  one  who 
was  not  only  weakening  the  hands  of  the  people  generally, 
but  especially  of  the  men  of  war.  In  some  such  way  the 
drowsy  sleeper,  unwilling  to  be  aroused  by  the  barking  of 
the  watch-dog,  catches  up  his  revolver  to  shoot  him ;  or 
the  crew,  eager  for  carouse,  murders  the  watchman  who 
warns  them  of  the  white  surf  breaking  along  a  ragged, 
rock-bound  shore.  The  young  king  was  weak  rather  than 
wicked,  a  puppet  an*!  toy  in  the  hands  of  his  princes  and 
court.  He  therefore  ^'ielded  to  their  demand,  saying,  "  Be- 
hold, he  is  in  your  hand :  for  the  king  is  not  he  that  can 
do  anything  against  you." 

Without  delay  Jeremiah  was  flung  into  one  of  those 
rock-hewn  cisterns  that  abound  in  Jerusalem,  and  the  bot- 
tom of  which,  the  water  having  been  exhausted  during  the 
extremities  of  the  siege,  consisted  of  a  deep  sediment  of 
mud,  into  which  he  sank.  There  was  not  a  moment  to  be 
lost.    The  life  of  the  faitliful  servant  of  God  was  not  to 


M 


^  I 


l82 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


end  amid  the  damp  darkness  of  that  hideous  sepulcher, 
from  which  no  cry  could  reach  the  upper  air ;  and  help 
was  sent  through  a  very  unexpected  channel.  An  Ethi- 
opian eunuch — who  is  probably  anonymous,  since  the  name 
Ebed-melech  simply  means  "  the  king's  servant " — with  a 
love  to  God's  cause  which  was  sweetly  prophetic  of  the 
way  in  which  Gentile  hearts  would  be  opened  to  welcome 
and  forward  it  throughout  the  world,  hastened  to  the  king, 
then  sitting  to  administer  justice  at  one  of  the  gates  of  the 
city,  remonstrated  with  him,  and  urged  him  to  take  im- 
mediate steps  to  save  the  prophet  from  imminent  death. 

Always  swayed  by  the  last  strong  influence  brought  to 
bear  on  him,  the  king  yielded  as  easily  to  his  faithful  serv- 
ant, who  was  probably  the  custodian  of  his  harem,  as  he 
had  done  to  his  lords,  and  bade  him  take  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  men  to  secure  him  from  interference,  and  at  (yoict 
extricate  the  prophet.  There  was  great  gentleness  in  the 
way  this  noble  Ethiopian  executed  his  purpose.  He  was 
not  content  with  merely  dragging  him  from  the  pit's  bot- 
tom, but  lined  the  ropes  with  old  cast  clouts  and  rotten 
rags,  fetched  hurriedly  from  the  house  of  the  king ;  thus 
the  tender  flesh  of  the  prophet  was  neither  cut  nor  chafed. 
It  was  an  act  of  womanly  tenderness,  w^hich  makes  it  as 
fragrant  as  the  breaking  of  the  box  over  the  person  of  the 
Lord.  It  is  not  enough  to  serve  and  help  those  who  need 
assistance ;  we  should  do  it  with  the  sweetness  and  gentle- 
ness of  Christ.  It  is  not  only  what  we  do,  but  the  way  in 
which  we  do  it  which  most  quickly  indicates  our  real  selvesL 
Many  a  man  might  have  hurried  to  the  pit's  mouth  with 
ropes;  only  one  of  God's  own  gentlemen  would  have 
thought  of  the  rags  and  clouts.  It  is  very  quamt  and 
beautiful,  when  so  much  is  left  untold,  that  a  dozen  lineg 
in  the  Word  of  God  should  be  given  to  this  simple  inci- 
dent and  the  hurried  advice  thrown  into  the  darkness  of 


THE  FALL  OF  JERUSALEM 


183 


the  lonely  prophet  by  his  kind-hearted  deliverer.  "  Then 
they  drew  up  Jeremiah  with  the  cords,  and  took  him  up 
out  of  the  dungeon :  and  Jeremiah  remained  in  the  court 
of  the  guard." 

From  that  moment  till  the  city  fell  the  prophet  remained 
in  safe  custody,  and  on  one  memorable  occasion  the  king 
sought  his  counsel,  though  in  strict  secrecy.  Once  more, 
and  for  the  last  time,  those  two  men  stood  face  to  face — 
king  and  prophet — weakness  and  strength — ^representatives, 
the  one  of  the  fading  glories  of  David's  race,  and  the  other 
of  the  imperishable  splendor  of  truth  and  righteousness. 
Once  more  Zedekiah  asked  what  the  issue  would  be,  and 
once  more  received  the  alternatives  that  appeared  so  fool- 
ish to  the  eye  of  sense — Defeat  and  Death  by  remaining 
in  the  city ;  Liberty  and  Life  by  going  forth. 

"  Go  forth  ?  "  said  Zedekiah,  in  effect, "  never !  It  would 
be  unworthy  of  one  in  whose  veins  flows  the  blood  of  kings. 
I  shall  expose  myself  to  the  ridicule  of  all  that  have  fled 
across  the  Chaldean  lines,  and  the  Chaldeans  themselves 
would  deliver  me  into  their  hands." 

"  They  shall  not  deliver  thee,"  said  Jeremiah,  and  then 
began  to  plead  with  him  as  a  man  might  plead  for  himself. 
"  Obey,  I  beseech  thee,  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  in  that  which 
I  speak  unto  thee :  so  it  shall  be  well  with  thee,  and  thy 
soul  shall  live."  Then  in  graphic  words  he  painted  the  pict- 
ure of  the  certain  doom  the  king  would  incur  if  he  tarried 
until  the  city  fell  into  the  captor's  hands.  For  the  derision 
of  the  few  Jews  that  had  fallen  away,  he  would  then  be 
exposed  to  the  taunts  of  his  wives  and  children,  who  would 
by  that  time  have  become  allotted  to  their  captors,  and 
would  seek  to  win  the  smiles  of  their  new  lords  by  taunt- 
ing the  fallen  monarch  in  whose  smiles  they  had  been  wont 
to  bask. 

In  this  advice  of  Jeremiah  we  are  reminded  ol  words 


1 84 


fEREMMH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


repeated  by  our  Lord  on  five  different  occasions,  and  in 
which  he  tells  us  that  those  who  keep  their  lives  lose  them, 
and  that  those  who  lose  their  lives  find  and  keep  them. 
Not  in  husbanding  our  strength,  but  in  yielding  it  in  serv- 
ice ;  not  in  burying  our  talents,  but  in  administering  them ; 
not  in  hoarding  our  seed  in  the  bam,  but  in  scattering  it ; 
not  in  following  an  earthly  human  policy,  but  in  surrender- 
ing ourselves  to  the  will  of  God — do  we  find  the  safe  and 
blessed  path.  The  man  of  faith  judges  not  after  the  sight 
of  his  eyes  or  the  judgment  of  sense ;  he  strikes  currents 
flowing  unseen  by  the  world,  and  acts  on  suggestions  re- 
ceived by  direct  commimication  from  the  Spirit  of  God, 
though  always  through  the  Word  of  God,  and  consistent 
with  the  loftiest  dictates  of  sanctified  common  sense. 

The  weakness  which  was  tht  ruin  of  Zedekiah  came  out 
in  his  request  that  Jeremiah  would  not  inform  the  princes 
of  the  nature  of  their  communications,  and  would  hide  the 
truth  beneath  the  semblance  of  truth.  It  is  difficult  to  pro- 
nounce a  judgment  on  the  way  in  which  the  prophet  veiled 
the  purport  of  his  conversation  with  Zedekiah  from  the  in- 
quisitive questions  of  the  princes.  There  is  an  appearance 
of  evasion  in  his  reply,  which  seems  a  little  inconsistent  with 
the  character  of  the  prophet  of  Jehovah.  At  the  same  time, 
the  princes  had  no  right  to  catechize  him,  and  he  was  not 
obliged  by  his  duty  to  them  to  tell  the  entire  truth.  We 
are  under  no  obligation  to  gratify  an  impertinent  curiosity ; 
but  we  must  be  very  careful  to  be  transparent  in  speech 
and  in  act,  and  to  be  utterly  true  when  we  profess  to  be 
telling  the  whole  truth  to  those  that  have  a  right  to  know. 
In  the  present  case  the  prophet  shielded  the  king  with  a 
touch  of  chivalrous  devotion  and  loyalty  which  was  prob- 
ably the  last  act  of  devotion  to  the  royal  house,  to  save 
which  he  had  poured  out  his  heart's  blood  in  tears  and  en- 
treaties and  sacrifices  for  nearly  forty  years. 


THE  FALL  OF  JERUSALEM 


'85 


III.  The  Fate  of  the  City. — At  last  a  breach  was 
made  in  the  old  fortifications,  and  the  troops  began  to  rush 
in,  like  an  angry  sea  which  after  long  chafing  has  made 
for  itself  an  entrance  in  the  sea-wall,  and  pours  in  turbu- 
lent fiury  to  carry  desolation  in  its  course.  The  kings  of 
the  earth  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  could  never 
have  believed  that  the  adversary  and  the  enemy  should 
enter  into  the  gates  of  Jerusalem ;  yet  so  it  befell.  Then 
the  terrified  people  fied  from  the  lower  into  the  upper  city, 
and  as  they  did  so  their  homes  were  filled  with  the  desolat- 
ing terror  of  the  merciless  soldiery. 

A  hundred  different  forms  of  anguish  gathered  in  that 
devoted  city,  like  vultures  to  the  dead  camel  of  the  desert. 
Woe  then  to  the  men  who  had  fought  for  their  very  life  I 
but  WO'  more  utter  and  agonizing  to  the  women  and  maid- 
ens, to  the  children  and  little  babes  !  War  is  always  ter- 
rible ;  but  no  hand  of  historian  dare  lift  the  veil,  and  tell 
in  unvarnished  words  all  the  horror  of  the  sack  of  a  city 
by  such  soldiery  as  Nebuchadnezzar  and  his  generals  led  to 
war.  The  wolves  of  the  Siberian  forest  are  more  merciful 
than  they.  "  All  the  princes  of  the  king  of  Babylon  came 
in,  and  sat  in  the  middle  gate,"  from  which  they  gave  direc- 
tions for  the  immediate  prosecution  of  their  success  upon 
the  terrified  people,  who  now  crowded  the  upper  city,  pre- 
pared to  make  the  last  desperate  stand. 

Late  that  afternoon  the  old  palace  of  David  was  filled 
with  eager  consultation.  Everything  must  be  done  to  pre- 
serve the  royal  house,  "the  breath  of  our  nostrils,  the 
anointed  of  the  Lord."  It  was  therefore  arranged  that 
as  soon  as  night  fell  Zedekiah  and  his  harem  should  go 
forth  under  the  protection  of  all  the  men  of  war,  through 
a  breach  to  be  made  in  the  walls  of  the  city  to  the  south ; 
and  exactly  as  Ezekiel  had  foretold,  so  it  came  to  pass. 
"  The  prince  that  is  among  them  shall  bear  upon  his  shoul* 


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JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


der  in  the  dark,  and  shall  go  forth :  they  shall  dig  through 
the  wall  to  carry  out  thereby:  he  shall  cover  his  face" 
(Ezek.  xii.  12). 

A  long  line  of  fugitives,  each  carrying  property  or  neces- 
sarieSi  stole  silently  through  the  king's  private  garden,  and 
so  toward  the  breach,  and  like  shadows  of  the  night  passed 
forth  into  the  darkness  between  long  lines  of  armed  men, 
who  held  their  breath.  If  only  by  the  dawn  they  could 
gain  the  plains  of  Jericho  they  might  hope  to  elude  the 
fury  of  their  pursuers.  But  all  night  Zedekiah  must  have 
remembered  those  last  words  of  Jeremiah,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
escape,  but  shalt  be  taken  by  the  hand  of  the  kmg  of  Baby- 
lon." "  Woe  unto  him  that  striveth  with  his  Maker !  Let* 
the  potsherd  strive  with  the  potsherds  of  the  earth."  This 
was  not  the  first  time  or  the  last  that  man  has  thought  to 
elude  the  close  meshes  of  the  Word  of  God. 

Somehow  the  tidings  of  the  flight  reached  the  Chaldeans. 
The  whole  army  arose  to  pursue.  "Our  pursuers  were 
swifter  than  the  eagles  of  the  heaven :  they  chased  us  upon 
the  mountains,  they  laid  wait  for  us  in  the  wilderness.  .  .  . 
The  anointed  of  the  Lord  was  taken  in  their  pits."  That  is 
the  lament  of  Jeremiah ;  but  Ezekiel  gives  an  even  deeper 
insight  into  the  events  of  that  memorable  and  terrible  night : 
"  My  net  also  will  I  spread  upon  him,  and  he  shall  be  taken 
in  my  snare.  .  .  .  And  I  will  scatter  toward  every  wind  all 
that  are  about  him  to  help  him,  and  all  his  bands  "  (Lam. 
iv.  19,  20;  Ezek.  xii.  13,  14). 

What  happened  the  next  morning  in  Jerusalem  and  what 
befell  her  in  after-months  is  told  in  the  Book  of  Lamenta- 
tions. Her  streets  and  houses  were  filled  with  the  bodies 
of  the  slain,  after  having  been  outraged  with  nameless 
atrocities ;  but  happier  these  perchance  than  the  thousands 
who  were  led  oil  into  exile  or  sold  into  slavery,  to  suffer 
the  horrors  of  death  in  life.    Then  the  wild  fury  of  fire 


THE  FALL  OF  JERUSALEM 


187 


engulfed  temple  and  palace,  public  building  and  dwelling- 
house,  and  blackened  ruins  covered  the  site  of  the  holy  and 
beautiful  city  which  had  been  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth ; 
and  the  ear  of  the  prophet  heard  the  spirit  of  the  fallen 
city  crying:  , 

"  Is  it  nothing  to  yon,  all  ye  that  pass  by  ? 
Behold  and  see  if  there  be  any  sorrow  like  nnto  my  sorrow  which  is 

done  nnto  me, 
Wherewith  the  Lord  hath  afflicted  me  in  the  day  of  his  fierce  anger ! " 


All  that  passed  by  clapped  their  hands  at  her ;  they  hissed 
and  wagged  their  heads  at  the  daughter  of  Jerusalem,  say- 
ing, "  Is  this  the  city  that  men  call  The  perfection  of  beauty, 
The  joy  of  the  whole  earth  ?  "  All  her  enemies  opened  their 
mouths  wide  against  her:  they  hissed  and  gnashed  their 
teeth:  they  said,  "We  have  swallowed  her  up:  certainly 
this  is  the  day  that  we  looked  for ;  we  have  found  it,  we 
have  seen  it."  The  Lord  did  that  which  he  devised :  he  ful- 
filled his  word :  he  threw  down,  and  did  not  pity :  he  caused 
the  enemy  to  rejoice.  Foxes  walked  upon  the  desolate 
mountain  of  Zion  (Lam.  ii.  v.). 

As  for  Zedekiah,  he  was  taken  to  Riblah,  where  Nebu- 
chadnezzar was  at  this  time,  perhaps  not  expecting  so 
speedy  a  downfall  of  the  city.  With  barbarous  cruelty  he 
slew  the  sons  of  Zedekiah  before  his  eyes,  that  the  last 
sight  he  beheld  might  be  of  their  dying  agony.  He  was 
also  compelled  to  witness  the  slaughter  of  all  his  nobles. 
Then,  as  a  coup  de  grdce^  with  his  own  hand  probably, 
Nebuchadnezzar  struck  out  Zedekiah's  two  eyes  with  his 
spear. 

Thus  God  brought  upon  his  people  the  king  of  the  Chal- 
deans, who  slew  their  young  men  with  the  sword  in  the 
house  of  their  sanctuary,  and  had  no  compassion  upon 
young  man  or  maiden,  old  man  or  ancient,  but  gave  them 


i88 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


all  into  his  hand.  And  all  the  vessels  of  the  house  of  God, 
great  and  small,  and  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
and  the  treasures  of  the  king  and  his  princes,  all  these  he 
brought  to  Babylon.  And  they  burned  the  house  of  God, 
and  brake  down  the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  and  burned  all  the 
palaces  thereof  with  fire,  and  destroyed  all  the  goodly  ves- 
sels thereof.  And  them  that  had  escaped  from  the  sword 
carried  he  away  to  Babylon,  and  they  were  servants  to  him 
and  his  sons.  v 


\\ 


XX. 

(Jeremiah  xl.-xliv.) 


W 


**  Therefore  to  whom  torn  I  bat  to  thee,  the  ine£fable  Name? 
Builder  and  maker  thou  of  houses  not  made  with  hands! 
What!  have  fear  of  change  from  thee  who  art  ever  the  &ame? 

Doubt  that  thy  power  can  fill  the  heart  that  thy  power  expands? 
There  never  shall  be  one  lost  Good !     What  was,  shall  live  as  before ; 

The  Evil  is  null,  is  naught,  is  silence  implying  sound; 
What  was  good,  shall  be  good,  with  for  evil  so  much  good  more ; 
On  the  earth  the  broken  arcs — in  the  heaven  a  perfect  round! " 

Browning. 


IF  the  closing  verses  of  the  Book  of  Jeremiah  were  writ* 
te:i  by  his  own  hand,  he  must  have  lived  for  twenty 
years  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem ;  but  they  partook  of  the 
same  infinite  sadness  as  the  forty  years  of  his  public  minis- 
try. It  would  appear  that  so  far  as  his  outward  lot  was  con- 
cerned the  prophet  Jeremiah  spent  a  life  of  more  unreb'eved 
sadness  than  has  perhaps  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  other,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Divine  Lord.  This  was  so  apparent 
to  the  Jewish  commentators  on  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah 
that  they  applied  to  him  the  words  of  the  fifty-third  chap- 
ter, which  tell  the  story  of  the  man  of  sorrows,  who  was 
acquainted  with  grief,  and  stood  as  a  sheep  dumb  before 
her  shearers.  Of  course  in  the  light  of  Calvary  we  see 
the  depths  of  substitutionary  suffering  in  those  inimitable 
words  which  no  mortal  could  ever  realize ;  but  it  is  never- 

189 


190 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


theless  significant  that  in  any  sense  they  were  deemed  ap- 
plicable to  Jeremiah. 

His  sufferings  may  be  classed  under  three  divisions: 
those  recited  in  the  Book  of  Lamentations,  and  connected 
with  the  fall  of  Jerusalem ;  those  connected  with  the  mur< 
der  of  Gedaliah  and  the  flight  into  Egypt ;  and  those  of 
the  exile  there.  But  amid  the  salt  brine  of  these  bitter  ex- 
periences there  was  always  welling  up  a  spring  of  hope  and 
peace.  Oppressed  on  every  side,  but  not  straitened ;  per- 
plexed, yet  not  unto  despair ;  pursued,  yet  not  forsaken ; 
smitten  down,  yet  not  destroyed;  always  delivered  unto 
death,  yet  passing  through  death  into  the  true  life,  sure  that 
the  Lord  would  not  cast  off  forever,  but,  though  he  caused 
grief,  he  would  have  compassion,  according  to  the  multitude 
of  his  mercies. 

I.  The  Desolate  City. — It  is  only  latterly  that  any 
question  has  been  raised  as  to  the  authorship  of  the  Book 
of  Lamentations.  In  the  text  no  author  is  named,  and 
these  exquisite  elegiacs  have  descended  to  us  anonymously. 
But  a  very  old  tradition  ascribes  them  to  our  prophet.  In 
the  Septuagint  translation,  made  in  the  year  280  B.C.,  the 
following  introduction  is  prefixed  to  the  book :  "  It  came 
to  pass,  after  Israel  was  taken  captive,  and  Jerusalem  made 
desolate,  Jeremiah  sat  weeping,  and  lamented  this  lamenta- 
tion over  Jerusalem."  To  this  the  Vulgate  adds,  "  in  bit- 
terness of  heart-sighing  and  crying."  The  cave  in  which 
Jeremiah  is  said  to  have  written  them  is  still  shown  on  the 
western  side  of  the  city ;  and  every  Friday  the  Jews  assem- 
ble to  recite  as  his  these  plaintive  words,  at  their  wailing- 
place  in  Jerusalem,  where  a  few  of  the  old  stones  still  remain. 
There  is  no  good  reason,  therefore,  for  disassociating  the 
Book  of  Lamentations  from  the  authorship  of  Jeremiah. 

This  being  so,  what  a  flood  of  light  is  cast  upon  the 


I 


A  CLOUDED  SUNSET 


191 


desolate  scene  when  Nebuzar-adan  had  completed  his  work 
of  destruction,  and  the  long  lines  of  captives  were  already 
far  on  their  way  to  Babylon  !  How  many  went  into  exile 
we  have  no  means  of  knowing ;  the  number  would  probably 
amount  to  several  thousands,  principally  of  the  wealthier 
classes.  Only  the  poor  of  the  people  were  left  to  cultivate 
the  land,  that  it  might  not  revert  to  an  absolute  desert. 
But  the  population  would  probably  be  very  sparse — a  few 
peasants  scattered  over  the  sites  which  had  teemed  with 
crowds. 

The  city  sat  soh'tary  which  had  been  full  of  people.  She 
had  become  as  a  widow.  Night  and  day  it  seemed  to  the 
eye  of  her  patriot  lovers  as  though  she  were  weeping  sore 
and  her  tears  were  upon  her  cheeks ;  the  holy  fire  was  ex- 
tinct upon  her  altars ;  pilgrims  no  longer  traversed  the  ways 
of  Zion  to  attend  the  appointed  feasts ;  her  gates  had  sunk 
into  the  ground,  and  her  habitations  were  pitilessly  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  How  often  would  Jeremiah  pass  mourn- 
fully amid  the  blackened  ruins !  Here  was  the  site  of  the 
altar ;  there  of  the  most  holy  place.  That  was  the  palace 
of  David ;  this  the  new  palace  that  Jehoiakim  had  made 
fcr  himself,  with  its  wide  windows  and  heavy  coatings  of 
vermilion.  Yonder  was  the  coiirt  of  the  guard,  where  he 
had  suffered  so  many  months  of  confinement ;  and  there, 
again,  was  the  place  where  he  had  so  often  stood  to  warn 
his  people  of  their  sins. 

Above  and  around,  nature  preserved  the  unbroken  round 
of  her  seasons  and  months,  of  day  and  night.  The  old 
mountains  which  had  stood  around  the  city  in  the  days  of 
David  and  Hezekiah  glowed  with  the  morning  light  and 
softened  in  the  darkening  shadows  of  the  night.  The  sun 
arose  over  Olivet  and  set  in  the  western  sea.  The  pano- 
rama of  hill  and  valley,  which  lay  around  like  the  undu- 
lations of  a  sea  of  rock,  spread  itself  in  its  accustomed 


19s 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHBT 


Strength  and  beauty,  for  Zion  had  always  been  beautiful  in 
her  situation.  But  upon  the  site  of  the  virgin  daughter  of 
Zion  the  stillness  of  death  had  fallen,  broken  only  by  the 
cry  of  jackal  and  wild  dog. 

What  all  this  meant  to  Jeremiah  words  fail  to  say.  No 
truer  heart  ever  beat  in  patriot's  bosom.  What  Phocion 
felt  for  Athens,  what  Savonarola  for  Florence,  what  the 
elder  Pitt  for  England,  amid  the  catastrophes  that  darkened 
his  latter  days — ^that  in  a  concentrated  form  must  Jere- 
miah, whose  love  for  country  was  so  intimately  bound  up 
with  his  religious  life,  have  felt  and  suffered.  Anticipating 
the  words  of  One  who  in  after-da3rs  was  to  sit  on  the  same 
mountain  and  look  across  the  valley,  he  might  have  kaid, 
"  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  which  killeth  the  prophets,  and 
stoneth  them  that  are  sent  unto  her  !  how  often  would  I 
have  gathered  thy  children  tcg^dier,  even  as  a  hen  gather- 
eth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not !  Be- 
hold, your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate  I " 

II.  Gedaliah's  Murder. — Nebuchadnezzar  and  his 
chiefs  had  evidently  been  kept  closely  informed  of  the 
state  of  parties  during  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  king 
gave  definite  instructions  to  his  chief  officers  to  take  special 
precautions  for  the  safety  of  Jeremiah.  When  the  upper 
city  fell  into  their  hands,  they  sent  and  took  him  out  of  the 
court  of  the  guard,  and  he  was  brought  in  chains  among 
the  other  captives  to  Ramah,  about  five  miles  north  of 
Jerusalem. 

In  a  remarkable  address  which  the  captain  of  the  guard 
made  to  Jeremi?Ji,  he  acknowledged  the  retributive  justice 
of  Jehovah-— one  of  the  many  traces  of  the  real  religious- 
ness that  gave  a  tone  and  bearing  to  these  men  by  which 
they  are  altogether  removed  from  the  category  of  ordinary 
heathen.     "  The  Lord  thy  God  pronounced  this  evil  upon 


A  CLOUDED  SUNSET 


193 


ludful  in 
ighter  of 
ly  by  the 

ay.    No 

Phocion 

what  the 

darkened 

ust  Jere- 

ound  up 

dcipating 

the  same 

lave  Baid, 

hets,  and 

would  I 

n  gather- 

lOt !    Be- 


and  his 
id  of  the 
I  the  king 
ke  special 
the  upper 
>ut  of  the 
QS  among 

north  of 

the  guard 
ve  justice 
religious- 
by  which 
ordinary 
evil  upon 


this  place,  and  the  Lord  hath  brought  it,  and  done  accord- 
ing as  he  spake :  because  ye  have  sinned  against  the  Lord, 
and  have  not  obeyed  his  voice,  therefore  this  thing  is  come 
upon  you." 

The  chains  were  then  struck  from  of!  his  fettered  hands, 
and  liberty  was  given  him  either  to  accompany  the  rest  of 
the  people  to  Babylon,  or  to  go  where  he  chose  through- 
out the  land.  Ultimately,  as  he  seemed  to  hesitate  as  to 
which  direction  to  take,  the  Chaldean  general  urged  him 
to  make  his  home  with  Gedaliah,  to  strengthen  his  hands, 
and  give  him  the  benefit  of  his  counsel  in  the  difficult  task 
to  which  he  had  been  appointed.  Thus  again  he  turned 
from  rest  and  ease  to  take  the  rough  path  of  duty. 

Gedaliah  was  the  grandson  of  Shaphan,  King  Josiah's 
secretary,  and  son  of  Ahikam,  who  had  been  sent  to  in- 
quire of  the  prophetess  Huldah  concerning  the  newly 
found  Book  of  the  Law.  On  a  former  occasion  the  hand 
of  Ahikam  had  rescued  Jeremiah  from  the  nobles.  Evi- 
dently the  whole  family  was  bound  by  the  strongest,  ten- 
derest  ties  to  the  servant  of  God,  imbued  with  the  spirit 
and  governed  by  the  policy  which  he  enunciated.  These 
principles  Gedaliah  had  consistently  followed,  and  they 
marked  him  out,  in  the  judgment  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  as 
the  fittest  to  be  intrusted  with  the  reins  of  government 
and  to  exert  some  kind  of  authority  over  the  scattered  rem- 
nant. To  him,  therefore,  Jeremiah  came  with  an  allow- 
ance of  victuals  and  other  marks  of  the  esteem  in  which 
the  conquerors  regarded  him. 

For  a  brief  interval  all  went  well.  The  new  governor 
took  up  his  residence  at  Mizpah,  an  old  fort  which  Asa 
had  erected  three  hundred  years  before  to  check  the  inva- 
son  of  Baasha.  The  town  stood  on  a  rocky  eminence,  but 
the  castle  was  supplied  with  water  from  a  deep  well.  Chal- 
dean soldiers  gave  the  show  of  authority  and  stability  to 


194 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


Gedaliah's  rule.  To  Mizpah  the  scattered  remnant  of  the 
Jews  began  to  look  with  hope.  The  captains  of  the  forces 
"^hich  were  in  the  fields,  still  holding  out,  as  roving  bands, 
against  the  conqueror,  hastened  to  swear  allegiance  to  the 
representative  of  the  Jewish  state ;  and  the  Jews  who  had 
fled  to  Moab,  Edom,  and  other  surrounding  peoples  re- 
turned out  of  all  places  whither  they  had  been  driven,  and 
they  came  to  the  land  of  Judah,  to  Gedaliah,  unto  Mizpah. 

How  glad  must  Jeremiah  have  been  to  see  this  nucleus 
of  order  spreading  its  influence  through  the  surrounding 
chaos  and  confusion,  and  with  what  eagerness  he  must  have 
used  all  the  influence  he  possessed  to  aid  in  the  establish- 
ment of  Gedaliah's  authority!  The  fair  dream,  however, 
was  rudely  dissipated  by  the  treacherous  murder  of  Geda- 
liah, who  seems  to  have  been  eminently  fitted  for  his  post, 
by  Ishmael,  the  son  of  Nethaniah.  In  the  midst  of  a  feast 
given  by  the  unsuspecting  governor,  he  was  slain  with  the 
sword,  together  with  all  the  Jews  that  were  with  him  and 
the  Chaldean  garrison.  On  the  second  day  after,  the  red- 
handed  murderers,  still  thirsting  for  blood,  slew  seventy 
pilgrims  who  were  on  their  way  to  weep  amid  the  ruins  of 
Jerusalem  and  lay  offerings  on  the  site  of  the  ruined  altar. 
The  deep  well  of  the  keep  was  choked  with  bodies,  and 
shortly  afterward  Ishmael  carried  off  the  king's  daughters 
and  all  the  people  that  had  gathered  around  Gedaliah,  and 
started  with  them  for  the  court  of  Baalis,  the  king  of  the 
children  of  Ammon,  who  was  an  accomplice  in  the  plot. 

It  was  a  bitter  disappointment,  and  to  none  would  the 
grief  of  it  have  been  more  poignant  than  to  Jeremiah,  who, 
in  the  demolition  of  this  last  attempt  to  effect  the  peace- 
able settlement  of  his  country,  saw  the  irreconcilable  an- 
tagonism of  his  people  against  the  reign  of  the  king  of  Baby- 
lon.   This  he  knew  must  last  for  at  least  seventy  years. 


U\- 


A  CLOUDED  SUNSET 


>95 


The  people  themselves  appear  to  have  lost  heart ;  for 
though  Johanan  and  other  of  the  captains  of  roving  bands 
pursued  Ishmael  and  delivered  from  his  hand  all  the  cap- 
tives he  had  taken,  and  recovered  the  women  and  the  chil- 
dren, yet  none  of  them  dared  to  return  to  Mizpah ;  but, 
like  shepherdless  sheep,  harried  by  hogs,  driven,  draggled, 
panting,  and  terrified,  they  resolved  to  quit  their  land  and 
retire  southward,  with  the  intention  of  fleeing  into  the  land 
of  Egypt,  with  which  during  the  later  days  of  their  national 
history  they  had  maintained  close  relations. 

They  carried  Jeremiah  with  them.  They  had  confidence 
in  his  prayers  and  in  his  veracity,  since  his  predictions  had 
been  verified  so  often  by  the  event.  They  knew  he  stood 
high  in  the  favor  of  the  court  of  Babylon.  They  believed 
that  his  prayers  prevailed  with  God.  And  therefore  they 
regarded  him  as  a  shield  and  defence ;  a  noble  representa- 
tive of  the  highest  hopes  and  tradition  of  their  people ;  one 
in  whom  the  statesman,  sage,  and  prophet  mingled  in  equal 
proportion. 

Halting  at  the  caravansary  of  Chimham,  whose  name 
recalls  David's  flight  from  and  return  to  Jerusalem,  the  spot 
where  travelers  left  the  frontiers  of  Palestine  for  Egypt,  the 
people  earnestly  debated  whether  they  should  go  forward 
or  return.  They  came  also  to  Jeremiah,  and  asked  him  to 
give  himself  to  prayer,  that  the  Lord  his  God  should  show 
them  the  way  wherein  they  should  walk,  and  the  thing  they 
should  do.  They  professed  their  willingness  to  be  guided 
entirely  by  the  voice  of  God,  though  in  this  they  were 
probably  not  sincere.  They  dealt  deceitfully  against  their 
own  souls  by  appearing  to  desire  only  God's  ways,  while 
in  point  of  fact  they  were  determined  to  enter  into  Egypt. 

For  ten  days  Jeremiah  gave  himself  to  prayer.  Then 
the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  him,  and  he  summoned 


196 


JEREMUH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHEl 


the  people  around  him  to  declare  it.  Speaking  in  the  name 
of  the  Most  High,  he  said :  "  If  ye  will  still  abide  in  this 
land,  then  will  I  build  you,  and  not  pull  you  down ;  and  I 
will  plant  you,  and  not  pluck  you  up.  .  .  .  Be  not  afraid  of 
the  king  of  Babylon :  ...  for  I  am  with  you  to  save  you, 
and  to  deliver  you  from  his  hand."  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
they  persisted  in  going  into  the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the  hope 
that  they  would  see  no  more  war,  nor  hear  the  sound  of 
the  trumpet,  nor  have  hunger  of  bread,  then  they  would  be 
overtaken  there  by  the  sword,  the  famine,  and  the  pesti- 
lence; they  would  be  an  execration,  an  astonishment,  a 
curse,  and  a  reproach,  and  they  should  never  again  see 
their  native  land.  As  he  spoke  he  seems  to  have  been 
sadly  aware  that  during  the  ten  days  devoted  to  interces- 
sion on  their  behalf  the  prepossession  in  favor  of  Egypt 
had  been  growing,  and  that  his  words  would  not  avail  to 
stay  the  strong  current  which  was  bearing  them  thither. 

So  it  befell.  When  he  had  made  an  end  of  speaking  all 
the  words  wherewith  the  Lord  had  sent  him  to  them,  the 
chiefs  accused  him  of  speaking  falsely,  and  of  misrepresent- 
ing the  divine  word.  Not  willing  to  accuse  him  flatly  of 
treachery,  they  suggested  that  Baruch,  who  was  still  accom- 
panying him  as  his  faithful  friend,  had  incited  him  to  urge 
the  return  to  Canaan  with  the  view  of  betraying  them  into 
the  hand  of  the  Chaldeans  for  death  or  exile.  So  the  ter- 
rified people  pursued  their  way  to  Egypt,  and  settled  at 
Tahpanhes,  which  was  ten  miles  across  the  frontier. 

Almost  the  last  ingredient  of  bitterness  in  Jeremiah*!^  cup 
must  have  been  furnished  by  this  pertinacious  obstinacy, 
which  would  not  be  controlled  by  his  word,  which  resisted 
his  entreaties,  and  suggested  that  his  advice  was  tinctured 
by  treachery  in  their  best  interests.  How  terrible  that  they 
should  malign  and  misunderstand  the  man  who  had  spent 
forty  years  of  consistent  public  ministry  in  efforts  to  save 


:•    •  I 


A  CLOUDED  SUNSET 


197 


them  from  the  effects  of  evil  counsel,  and  to  recall  them  to 
a  simple  and  absolute  faith  in  the  God  of  their  fathers  I 


III.  Egypt. — His  life  of  protest  was  not  yet  complete. 
No  sooner  had  the  people  settled  in  their  new  home  than 
he  was  led  to  take  great  stones  in  his  hand  and  lay  them 
beneath  the  mortar  in  some  brickwork  which  was  being 
laid  down  at  the  entry  of  Pharaoh's  palace  in  Tahpanhes. 
"  On  these  stones,"  he  said,  "  the  king  of  Babylon  shall  set 
his  throne,  and  spread  out  his  royal  pavilion  upon  them. 
He  shall  smite  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  kindle  a  fire  in  the 
houses  of  its  gods,  and  array  himself  in  her  spoils  as  easily 
as  a  shepherd  throws  his  outer  garment  around  his  shoul- 
ders. The  obelisks  of  Heliopolis  will  be  also  burned  with 
fire.  To  have  come  here,  therefore,  is  not  to  escape  the 
dreaded  foe,  but  to  throw  yourselves  into  his  arms." 

Some  years  must  have  followed  of  which  we  have  no 
record,  and  during  which  the  great  king  was  engaged  in 
the  siege  of  Tyre,  and  therefore  unable  to  pursue  his  plans 
against  Pharaoh.  During  this  time  the  Jews  scattered  over 
a  wide  extent  of  territory,  so  that  colonies  were  formed  in 
Upper  as  well  as  Lower  Egypt,  all  of  which  became  deeply 
infected  with  the  prevailing  idolatries  and  customs  around 
them.  Notwithstanding  all  the  bitter  experiences  which 
had  befallen  them  in  consequence  of  their  idolatries,  they 
burned  incense  unto  the  gods  of  Egypt,  and  repeated  the 
abominations  which  had  brought  such  disaster  and  suffer- 
ing upon  their  nation. 

Taking  advantage,  therefore,  of  a  great  convf '  ation  at 
some  idolatrous  festival,  Jeremiah  warned  them  .  I  the  in- 
evitable fate  which  must  overtake  them  in  Egypt,  as  it 
had  befallen  them  in  Jerusalem.  "  Behold,"  said  the  faith- 
ful prophet,  "  God  will  punish  you  who  dwell  in  the  land 
of  Egypt,  as  he  punished  Jerusalem,  by  sword,  by  famine^ 


tgS 


JEREiAUH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


and  by  pestilence :  so  that  none  of  the  remnant  of  Judah, 
which  are  gone  into  the  land  of  Egypt  to  sojourn  there, 
shall  escape  or  remain,  or  return  to  the  land  of  Judah  to 
dwell  there." 

A  severe  altercation  then  ensued.  The  men  indignantly 
protested  that  they  would  still  bum  incense  unto  the  queen 
of  heaven,  as  they  had  done  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  and 
they  even  ascribed  the  evils  that  had  befallen  them  to  their 
discontinuance  of  this  custom.  Jeremiah,  on  the  other 
hand,  gray  with  age,  his  face  marred  with  suffering,  an  old 
man  now,  did  not  hesitate  to  insist,  in  the  name  of  the  God 
he  served  so  faithfully,  that  the  sufferings  of  the  people  were 
due,  not  to  their  discontinuance  of  idolatry,  but  to  their 
persistence  in  its  unholy  rites.  "  Becauso  ye  have  burned 
incense  and  sinned  against  the  Lord,  and  have  not  walked 
in  his  law,  his  statutes,  or  his  testimonies ;  therefore  is  this 
evil  happened  unto  you,  as  it  is  this  day."  He  went  on 
to  predict  the  invasion  of  Egypt  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  which 
took  place  in  the  year  568  b.c,  and  which  resulted,  as 
Josephus  tells  us,  in  the  carrying  off  to  Babylon  of  the 
remnant  of  Jews  who  had,  against  Jeremiah's  advice,  fled 
there  for  refuge.  So  it  was  proved  whose  word  should 
stand,  God's  or  theirs. 

Through  all  these  dark  and  painful  experiences  the  soul 
of  Jeremiah  quieted  itself  as  a  weaned  babe.  When  he 
said  his  strength  was  perished,  still  his  expectation  was 
from  the  Lord.  When  his  soul  remembered  its  wormwood 
and  gall,  he  recalled  to  mind  the  covenant,  ordered  in  all 
things,  and  sure ;  therefore  he  had  hope.  The  Lord  was 
his  portion,  and  he  hoped  and  quietly  waited  for  the  salva- 
tion of  God.  He  knew  that  God  would  not  cast  off  for- 
ever, but  though  he  caused  grief,  yet  he  would  have  com- 
passion, according  to  the  multitude  of  his  mercies.  He  knew 
that  his  Redeemer  lived,  who  would  arise  for  his  cause, 
and  render  a  recompense  to  his  foes,    lie  looked  far  away 


A  CLOUDED  SUNSET 


199 


beyond  the  mist  of  years,  and  saw  the  expiry  of  the  sen- 
tence of  captivity,  the  return  of  his  people,  the  rebuilding 
of  the  city,  the  holy  and  blessed  condition  of  its  inhabitants, 
the  glorious  reign  of  the  Branch,  the  Scion  of  David's  stock, 
the  New  Covenant  before  which  the  old  should  vanish  away. 
Probably,  therefore,  his  days  were  not  all  dark,  but  aglow 
with  the  first  rays  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  smiting  the 
Alpine  peaks  of  his  holy  and  loyal  spirit.  The  Comforter 
must  have  come  to  him.  God,  who  comforteth  those  that 
are  cast  down,  must  have  spoken  words  of  balm  and  ten- 
der peace.  Never  yet  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  he 
permitted  his  servants  to  sink  in  unrelieved  and  hopeless 
midnight.  Unto  the  upright  there  always  arises  light  in 
the  darkness.  The  gloomiest  hours  that  ever  brooded  over 
the  Son  of  Man  broke  up  with  the  cry,  "  Father,  into  t'>7 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit." 

If  these  words  should  be  read  by  some  whose  life,  like 
Jeremiah's,  has  been  draped  with  curtains  of  somber  hue, 
shutting  out  the  glad  light  of  day — who  have  trodden  the 
path  of  sorrow  and  the  valley  of  shadow — ^let  them  know 
that  nothing  brings  men  into  such  intimate  relationship 
with  the  spirit  of  God,  and  that  to  none  does  the  Infinite 
One  stoop  so  closely  as  to  those  that  are  sore  broken  on 
the  wheel  of  af&iction.  It  is  only  when  we  fall  into  the 
ground  a:^i  die  that  we  cease  to  abide  alone  and  begin  to 
bear  much  fruit.  Do  not  try  to  feel  resigned.  Will  resig- 
nation. Submit  yourself  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God. 
If  you  can  say  nothing  else,  fill  your  nights  and  days  with 
the  cry  or  sob  of  "  Father,  not  my  will,  but  thine,  be  done." 
Never  doubt  the  love  of  God.  Never  suppose  for  a  moment 
that  he  has  forgotten  or  forsaken.  Never  yield  to  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  adversary  that  the  harvests  which  you  are 
to  gamer  could  have  been  procured  at  any  less  cost.  As  for 
God,  his  way  is  perfect,  and  he  makes  our  way  perfect. 

Scripture  says  nothing  about  the  death  of  Jeremiah. 


200 


JEREMIAH,  TRIEST  AND  TROPHET 


Whether  it  took  place,  as  Christian  tradition  affirms,  by 
stoning  in  Egypt,  or  whether  he  breathed  out  his  soul  be- 
neath the  faithful  tendance  of  Baruch,  in  some  quiet  cham- 
ber of  death,  we  cannot  tell.  The  Bible  makes  compara- 
tively little  of  death-scenes,  that  it  may  throw  into  greater 
prominence  the  prolonged  narrative  of  the  One  Death, 
which  has  abolished  death.  God's  chief  interest  is  focused 
on  the  life  and  work  of  his  servants.  What  they  did,  said, 
and  suffered  is  more  to  him  than  how  they  surrendered 
their  lives  at  his  bidding.  Indeed,  to  know  how  a  man 
has  lived  is  to  make  us  largely  indifferent  of  information 
regarding  his  last  hours.  The  sculptured  column  projects 
its  shaft  in  perfect  symmetry  upward  from  the  earth, 
though  we  may  not  be  able  to  follow  it  because  the  mass 
of  waving  verdure  veils  it  from  our  gaze.  But  we  know 
it  is  beautiful,  and  in  perfect  harmony  with  all  we  behold. 
But  how  gladly  did  the  prophet  close  his  eyes  upon  the 
wreck  that  sin  had  wrought  on  the  chosen  people,  and  open 
them  on  the  land  where  neither  sin,  nor  death,  nor  the  sight 
and  soimd  of  war  break  the  perfect  rest  1  What  a  look  of 
surprise  and  rapture  must  have  settled  upon  the  worn  face, 
the  expression  of  the  last  glad  vision  of  the  soul  as  it  passed 
out  from  the  body  of  corruption,  worn  and  weary  with  the 
long  conflict,  to  hear  the  "  Well  done "  and  welcome  of 
God  1  His  memory  was  cherished  with  exceptional  rever- 
ence. It  seemed  to  the  restored  people  as  if  his  tender 
spirit  were  watching  over  their  interests.  The  struggles  of 
Judas  Maccabaeus  were  cheered  by  the  thought  that  he 
had  come  to  succor  him.  It  was  believed  that  he  con- 
tinued in  heaven  the  intercessions  for  which  he  had  been 
so  famous  on  earth,  and  in  the  days  that  preceded  the 
second  siege  of  Jerusalem  it  was  supposed  that  he  had  re- 
appeared in  the  person  of  the  Son  of  Man. 


A  List  of 


Rev.   F.  B.  Meyer's 
Works 


PUBLISHED  BY 


Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

New  York  :  158  Fifth  Avenue 
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Paolt  A  Servant  of  Jeam  Chriit* 

lamo,  doth,  $1.00. 

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feel  that  he  transcended  all  one's  loftiest  conceptions.  Lilce 
some  great  mountain  range,  the  more  his  character  is  traversed, 
the  more  it  grows  on  the  Imagination."— /Vom  tke  Prtfact. 

"  Mr.  Meyer  holds  in  his  liand  the  key  to  his  reader's  heart 
and  conscience.  He  speaks  to  conscience  with  a  Idnd  of  author- 
ity which  it  is  not  easy  to  analyze  and  yet  harder  to  rerist.  In 
this  volume  he  follows  Paul's  life  through  in  a  series  of  topics, 
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as  he  reviews  the  past,  he  longs  to  utilize  the  lessons  and  warn- 
ings of  his  life  for  the  benefit  of  his  younger  brothers  and  sis- 
ters on  each  side  of  the  Atlantic."— /A^  Evangelist. 

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A  Castaway^  and  Other  Addresiet. 

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to  this  country  last  winter  (Feb.  1897.)  They  treat  of  the  hin- 
drances to  spiritual  growth  and  power,  of  the  evil  of  the  natural 
heart,  so  hard  to  overcome,  of  the  only  way  of  curing  this  evil 
by  getting  Christ  into  the  heart,  of  the  work  of  Clu-ist  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  of  the  possibilities  of  the  blessed  life  to 
which  the  writer  urgently  summons  his  readers."— Tit#  •$'««• 
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THE  Christian  Life  Series. 

Each  i8mo,  doth  decorated,  50  cents. 
Tliroagii  F3fe  and  Flood. 

*'  God's  Durpose  running  throuffh  our  lives,  often  leading 
*  through  fire  and  flood,'  is  set  forth  in  these  pages.  The  au- 
thor's pungent  and  impressive  style  shapes  the  message  for 
encouragement  and  comfort."-- 7a#  Presbyttrian, 

The  Gloriotti  Lord. 

"  It  abounds  in  Biblical  knowledge  and  evangelical  earnest- 
ness."—T"-**  Churchman, 

Key  Words  of  the  Ibsiet  Life. 

"  Mr.  Meyer  writes  fluently  and  forcibly  of  the  deep  things 
of  God,  and  fosters  spiritual  hunger  while  he  feeds  it."*— 7)m 
N.  Y.  Obttrvtr. 

Gdvary  to  Pentecost. 

**A11  Mr.  Meyer's  books  are  welcome,  but  none  more  than 
this.  It  is  rich  food  for  the  aspiring  Christian."— ZA/  Staudarti. 

The  Ftstttfe  Tenses  of  the  Blessed  Life. 

"  Full  of  tender  comfort  and  helpful  suggestions.*'— 71(«  In- 
terior. 

The  Pfcsent  Tenses  of  the  Btessed  Life. 

"  He  always  has  something  to  say  that  is  suggestive,  con* 
stantly  casts  light  upon  the  acripture."— T'Ar  S.S.  Times. 

Christian  Living. 

*'  Full  of  rich,  ripe  thought  and  strength  and  encouragement 
for  the  Christian  lieart."— CAr»/ta»  Worh. 

The  Shepherd  Psahn. 

"  These  meditations  on  the  twenty-third  Psalm  are  earnest, 
devout,  practical."— 7ii^  Evangtlist. 


The  ^Blessed  Life'*  Editions. 

The  following  have  been  issued  in  the  new  ''  Blessed  Life 
Series,"  iSmo,  cloth,  ink  stampings,  each  30  cents. 

The  Shepherd  Pkalm. 

Christian  Living. 

The  Present  Tenses  <jl  the  Blessed  Life. 

The  Future  Tenses  of  the  Blessed  Life. 


Old  T&stament  Heroes. 

lamo,  doth,  eight  volumeS|  each  f  i.oo. 

"Mr.  Meyer  is  unsurpassed  in  recent  times  in  his  faculty  of 
helpfully  and  interestingly  adapting  studies  of  Old  Testament 
characters  to  modern  needs.  His  work  does  not  consist  of 
mere  pious  moralizing,  but  it  is  the  product  of  a  man  evidently 
of  scholarly  habits  and  attainments,  and  in  close  and  practical 
touch  with  the  life  of  the  people  of  the  day,  and  with  the 
strongest  and  clearest  convictions  that  the  simple,  plain  gospel 
of  Clvist,  the  divine  and  atoning  Saviour,  and  the  Bible  the 
very  word  of  God,  are  indispensable  to  the  salvation  of  the 
world."— ?»#  Unittd  Prttbyitrian. 

David  X  Shepiierd»  Psalmist^  King. 

^*  As  In  all  his  works,  he  has  developed  the  spiritual  and 
practical  lines,  so  that  his  book  is  not  merely  a  record  of 
events,  but  the  story  of  a  great  life,  the  reading  of  which  will 
be  stimulating  and  profitable."— ZAr  Sunday  School  Timut, 

Jeremkfis  Priest  and  Propiiet. 

"  It  Is  at  once  a  biography,  an  interpretation,  and  a  terse  and 
practical  application  of  divine  truth  to  human  life.  It  is 
scholarly  but  not  pitched  on  too  high  a  key  of  learning  for  the 
common  reader."— ZAr  CongregatioHolisi, 

JoahvoL,  and  tfie  Land  of  Promise. 

"  The  twenty  chapters  here  given  on  thr  Book  of  Joshua  are 
so  many  lines  of  light  on  the  whole  period  id  its  main  charac- 
ters. The  great  leader  stands  out  in  relief,  and  his  relations  to 
the  age  are  traced  with  care  and  intelligence."— ZfV»V  Herald, 

Mosesy  tbe  Servant  of  God* 

"The  author's  analysis  of  the  character  and  history  of 
Moses  is,  in  some  respects,  the  best  which  we  rememb«r  to 
have  seen.  Thr  book  is  at  once  learned,  and  popular." — Tht 
CongrtgationalUt. 

.  Abralutm;  or»  The  Obedience  of  Faitfu 

"  He  is  throughout  reverent  and  thoughtful,  and  will  point 
out  to  many  a  reader  unsuspected  truth  and  beauty  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.'*— 7:t«  IVatchmaM, 

Ettjalit  and  the  Secret  of  Hb  Power. 

"  Good,  exceedingly  good.  Mr.  Meyer  is  a  great  gain  to  the 
armies  of  evangelical  truth,  for  his  tone,  spirit  and  aspirations 
are  all  of  a  fine  gospel  sort."— C  K  Spurgeon  in  Sword  and 
Trowtl. 

Itfaelt  a  Prince  with  God* 

"  No  Christian  is  likely  to  read  the  volume  ....  with- 
out being  wiser,  ptirer,  happier  and  more  devoted  to  his  Mas- 
ter. It  surpasses  any  book  we  have  seen  on  Jacob  and  his 
eventful  career."— TA*  Baptist  Magazine. 

Joseph:  Beloved— Hated— Exalted* 

*'  We  trust  this  welcome  volume  will  find  readers  in  all  ranks 
and  classes,  among  old  as  well  as  young,  and  will  perform  a 
blessed  ministry  of  help  and  guidance  in  the  life  which  is  life 
indeed  "—r4«  Christian. 


<  I 


The  Expository  Series. 

Four  volumes,  umo,  cloth,  each  f  i.oo. 

Chriit  in  baiaiu  *^ 

Expositions  of  Isaiah  XL.-LV. 

"The  redemption  of  Israel  out  of  Babylon  is  here  nude  the 
subject  of  a  series  of  lucid  and  inspiriung  expository  essays, 
covering  the  section  of  Isaiah's  prophecy  devoted  to  that 
theme  (Chapters  40-55).  The  quality  01  the  author's  work  as  an 
interpreter  of  Scripture  is  already  well  known  and  hishly  ap- 

f>reciated  in  this  country.  Nothing  thus  far  issued  by  nim  can, 
n  our  judgment,  deserve  wider  orlonger  favor  tlun  this  apt, 
keen-eyed,  eloquent  expansion  of  the  prophet's  Inspired 
words/'— rA#  IVatchmau. 

The  Way  Into  the  Holkst. 

Expositions  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 

"The  aim  of  the  author  in  this  work  is  to  deduce  the  great 
spiritual  lessons  which  are  enshrined  in  the  sublime  words  of 
the  epistle.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  Mr.  Meyer  has  admir- 
ably succeeded  in  accomplishing  his  purpose.    The  expositions 


as  a  whole  Strikingly  show  that  Christ's  death  was  substitu- 
tionary, and  they  also  exhibit  the  true  relation  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament symlx>ls  of  sacrifice  and  priesthood  of  tlie  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  The  greatness  and  glory  of  the  Son  of  God  are  force- 
fully illustrated,  and  the  chuacterlstics  of  the  Ideal  Christian 
life  are  finely  described,  as  weU  as  the  nature  of  the  discipline 
by  which  the  divine  character  is  perfected  in  man.  The  ex- 
podtions  are  admirable  specimens  of  lucid  spiritual  teaching 
couched  in  simple,  but  eloquent  language.  Loyal  disciples  (n 
Christ  will  prize  this  tribute  to  the  honor  of  their  Lord.  It  is  a 
volume  of  rare  worth."— 7ii«  N.  Y.  Observer. 

The  Life  and  Light  of  Men. 

Expositions  of  Joht;  I.-XII. 

"These  Repositions  have  the  character  of  all  Mr.  Meyer's 
writings.  They  combine  devout  insight  into  the  rich  resources 
of  the  word  of  God,  with  skill  in  adapting  it  to  the  spiritual 
needs  of  his  readers.  He  is  earnest,  practical,  personal,  and 
he  does  not  allow  his  good  intentions  to  supply  the  place  of  re- 
search and  study,  or  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  thinking  for 
himself.  And  he  rises  above  the  common  mistake  of  devo- 
tional writers,  who  assume  that  the  same  rules  will  suffice;  and 
the  same  experience  is  required  of  every  believer."— rAtf  Sun^ 
day  School  Times, 

Tried  by  Fife. 

Expositions  in  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter. 

"The  popularity  of  Mr.  Meyer's  Expositions  is  a  good  rigti 
of  the  times.  This  latest  is  one  of  the  best,  and  is  full  of 
tender  Christian  wisdom.  The  chief  charm  of  the  book  is  its 
earnest  simplicity."— rA*  British  Weekly. 

"As  is  well  known,  Mr.  Meyer's  style  is  vivid  in  description 
and  mostly  deeply  spiritual  in  insight  and  application."— r/ir 
Christian  Advocate  {N.  F.) 


TfaeBclbolIh 

BdMM  from  my  Early  Pastorates.    With  PortraH* 
lamo,  doth,  75c. 

**  This  book  is  brief— dzteon  short  chaptns,  «uh  on*  a  llttl* 
psalm  of  life.  Mr.  Meyer  has  left  the  impress  of  his  stroaar 
personalltj  on  the  book.  It  is  full  of  his  quiet  reveries,  his 
outreadhing  toward  God  and  toward  souls,  with  practical  suf- 
gestions  aa  to  city  missions,  and  relief  of  poverty  and  distress?' 
—A.  T.  PiaasoN,  D.D. 

Phtycfi  for  Heart  and  Home* 

Morning  and  Evening  Devotions  for  a  Month. 

8vo,  flexible  doth,  round  comers,  75c. 

**  Mr.  Meyer  has  a  gift  of  utterance  in  things  spiritual  such 
as  few  men  of  the  present  day  possess,  and  no  Christian  writer 
of  the  day  is  better  fitted  by  Character,  training  and  experience 
to  prepare  a  manual  of  worship  than  he.  The  volume  will  be 
found  iielpful  and  stimulating  in  the  highest  and  truest  sense." 
—CkrUtian  Work. 

The  Phalms. 

Notes  and  Readings.     iSmo,  doth,  6oc. 

"An  admirable  little  volums,  which  should  prove  helpful  to 
any  preacher,  while  as  the  companion  of  the  private  student, 
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Light  on  Ltfe's  Dutiei,  and  The  Secret  of  Guidance* 

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doth,  net,  30c. 

Cholee  Eztrada  from  ^The  First  Steps.*' 
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Rev.  B.  Fay  MilTs.  34mo,  paper,  each,  5c. ;  per  dozen, 
net|  35c.    i6mo,  large  paper  edition,  15c. 

A  Hdy  Temple* 
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net,  aoc. 

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A  Keswick  Experience. 
The  Trivial  Round,  The  Com- 
mon Task. 
Peace,  Perfect  Peace. 
The  Secret  of  Power. 
With  Christ  in  Separation. 
Seven  Rules  for  Daily  Living. 
The  Secret  of  Victory  over  Sin. 


The  Secret  of  Christ's  Indwell' 

Ing. 
Where  Am  I  Wrong  ? 
Young  Men,  Don't  Drift. 
The  Lost  Chord  Found. 
How  to  Read  Your  Bible. 
The  Secret  of  Guidance. 
The  Blessed  Dead. 


The  First  Step  into  the  Bless>   Burdens,  and  What  to  do  With 


ed.  Life 
Words  of  Help  for  Christian 

Girls. 
The  Filling  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Not  Eradication. 
How  to  Bear  Sorrow. 


Them. 

In  the  Secret  of  His  Presence. 
Why  Sign  the  Pledge. 
The  Chambers  of  the  King. 
The  Stewardship  of  Money. 
Comfort  to  be  Comforted. 


■  I 


